D.H. Andrews Study Examines AS/400 BI Opportunities

• 07/18/2000

In its latest report on the AS/400 market, D.H. Andrews Group (Cheshire, Conn.) examines how AS/400 customers are planning to use the AS/400 in support of their business intelligence strategies over the next three years. The report, entitled “The AS/400’s Prospects as a Business Intelligence Server,” is the sixth in a series of seven reports based on D.H. Andrews recent 2000 AS/400 Market Research Project, conducted in January and February of this year.

Although BI is not a current initiative of most AS/400 companies, many of the respondents indicated that BI will figure into their plans in the future. As business intelligence continues to grow in popularity, D.H. Andrews Group says there are opportunities amongst both large and small AS/400 customers, representing a significant potential market waiting to be tapped.

According to the study, the BI plans of the larger and smaller AS/400 customers in the study differ considerably, so different marketing options must be implemented. In particular, small and medium size AS/400 customers are still weighing the usefulness of BI. Because of this, the report says IBM and its business partners will need to pay particular attention not only to the appropriateness of the AS/400 for BI but for the payoffs of BI itself.

Another interesting tidbit from the study is that it is very rare to find an enterprise that is implementing BI without first having undertaken e-business or ERP initiatives. "Selling BI solutions on the AS/400 should be easier to AS/400 organizations that have already implemented one or both of these solutions," says Steve Aufderheide, Director of D.H. Andrews Group’s Industry Analysis practice.”

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