After all these acqusitions are complete and the dust settles, there is one thing we might be able to look forward to and that is actually re-focusing on solving reporting and analytic needs.
We have seen it all... From "Decision Support" to "Business Intelligence" to "Business/Corporate/Enteprise Peformance Management", one thing that is constant is that the software, players and industry acronyms change on a regular basis.
However, one thing that doesn't change when it comes to successfully addressing a reporting requirement within an organization is the importance of proper requirements definition, building inter-department concensus, project management, systems/database integration, and the design, data validation and rollout of the actual reporting platform.
It is all too easy to get caught up in the billion dollar acquisition excitement and to see who will end up on top of the corporate pile, -but the bottom line is that for firms looking to meet their own specific reporting requirements, whether in finance, sales, HR or operations they can not lose track of what truly contributes to a successful project rollout.
The experience, approach and yes, the technology.