Market Survey Sponsored by Noetix Reveals Majority of U.S. Companies Have Not Conducted ROI Studies for Business Intelligence Investments

Business Wire, Sept 27, 2007

Respondents Report Difficulties in Accurately Measuring Business Intelligence Costs and Benefits

REDMOND, Wash. -- Noetix([R]) Corp., a software provider that automatically generates business intelligence (BI) content from enterprise applications, today unveiled results from a market survey conducted to better understand the overall role of return on investment (ROI) analysis within IT, and more specifically the key metrics for measuring ROI for business intelligence. The survey revealed that although 95 percent of companies do conduct ROI studies for at least some of their IT projects, the majority do not perform an ROI analysis for BI implementations. The Web-based market survey was conducted on behalf of Noetix by Unisphere Research.

"Companies do not conduct ROI analysis for BI perhaps in part because a majority believe that the intangible benefits of BI are more important than the tangible benefits, which are easier to measure," said Dr. Elliot King, research director at Unisphere Research. "Our research indicates that the inability to measure ROI continues to be a significant hurdle for all companies."

According to survey results, while most enterprise companies do justify costs before implementing a BI application, less than half of that number formally calculate their ROI for the BI implementation and even fewer have ever calculated the total cost of ownership (TCO) of their BI applications.

Experts agree that in order to accurately assess ROI for BI, both direct and indirect costs must be measured. But assigning costs to a specific project often calls for personal judgment. For example, if more storage is not purchased specifically for a BI project, but will be required in the future to manage the data associated with BI, how should those costs be treated in terms of calculating ROI?

Survey respondents ranked the most important direct costs to take into consideration when determining ROI for BI is the initial costs of software and new servers required as well as the consulting services needed to actually implement the project.

The most important indirect cost to take into consideration, according to respondents, is the cost of upgrading related software and the time it takes to train end-users, both business analysts and other end-users. Respondents found that the calculation of indirect and related costs was less important than calculating direct costs.

Noetix customer Elliott Company, a global leader in the design and manufacture of technically advanced gas compressors and steam turbines used in the petrochemical and refining markets, began using a BI Dashboard solution from Noetix in early 2006 to offer executive management and key department managers a method to obtain a simple, easy to access summary of critical business metrics. When measuring ROI on this solution, Elliott's IT staff looks at both tangible and intangible benefits, according to Paul Pawlik, director, Corporate Information Services and Technology.

"In general, I would say that the reporting gives every department manager the ability to look at metrics that are important to managing the department," said Pawlik. "The biggest thing we've seen is our ability to more effectively understand where exactly our margins are."

According to Pawlik, Noetix has helped make Elliott's IT department much more efficient as well, estimating that efficiency within the group that is responsible for reporting has improved by at least 50 to 60 percent.

About Noetix

More than 1,300 customers worldwide use Noetix to quickly and cost-effectively access the enterprise application data they need to make important business decisions every day. Noetix provides software that automatically generates metadata from enterprise applications, enabling immediate access to data. Unlike most business intelligence tools that require weeks of extensive manual mapping to be set up and maintained, Noetix uses patented technology to automatically discover and produce metadata based on customers' specific implementations of Oracle E-Business Suite or Siebel Business Applications. Noetix provides this business intelligence content with easy search and navigation capability, empowering users to quickly generate the ad hoc, operational reports needed to make critical and timely business decisions. Noetix's proven technology is being used by industry-leading customers worldwide, including: CompUSA, Motorola, Starbucks, Toshiba, Welch's, and Visa. The company is headquartered in Redmond, Wash., with international operations in London and Hyderabad, India.

Noetix is a registered trademark of Noetix Corp. Oracle, JD Edwards, PeopleSoft, and Siebel are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. All other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.