Today, BI has become an inherent business strategy rather than a mere IT application. Frost & Sullivan estimates the total Indian BI market size in 2005-06 at a little over $47 million.

Major players include SAS, Business Objects, Actuate, Cognos, Hyperion, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP and Terradata. BI analysis can inspire companies to launch new business ventures or hive off a business division.

BI tools find applications in any sector. More at Rediff.com