BANGALORE, INDIA: Research shows that many Indian companies are beginning to view Business Intelligence (BI) software as a strategic technology to optimize business performance.  According to IDC, the Indian BI market is slated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 35 percent by 2011. One of the key drivers of this growth is due to the adoption of BI by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that use the technology to reduce costs and maximize their return on IT investments.

Business Objects, an SAP company, has been increasingly focused on the midmarket, forming a business unit to specifically cater to this segment.  In fact, the company has a strong global SME base of more than 6,000 customers.

To broaden its BI footprint among SMEs on the Indian subcontinent, Business Objects is planning to utilize the channel and establish solution partnerships.  It is also currently evaluating the feasibility of offering its BI on Demand solution to SMEs here.

Bringing its BI on Demand to the Indian market
"Firstly, we have to see the readiness of SMBs in India and analyze the customer preference. Secondly, we need to look at the infrastructure Indian SMEs have and start building the capacity accordingly," says Sanjay Deshmukh, country manager, India/SAARC, Business Objects.

"Apart from a lower total cost of ownership (TCO), the other challenge among Indian SMBs is they lack proper technical resources," he adds. 

So, what's unique about Indian SMEs? "They will stretch your technology to the limit," says Deshmukh. "Our SaaS model has been successful globally and we want to extend the same to the Indian market. The application is hosted on crystalreports.com. It is on pay-as-per-use model. It helps lower the TCO and addresses the specific concerns," he explains.

After being acquired by SAP a year ago, Business Objects lined up a series of products for small businesses and midsize companies: BusinessObjects Edge Series, SAP Business All-in-One with BusinessObjects Edge Standard and Crystal Reports Server.

Leveraging the SAP partnership
"Being a part of SAP has strengthened our strategy. Our first initiative is to tap the 2,500 strong SME customers of SAP. The product integration into our technology has already been done through the SAP channel," he says.

"Our technology has already been internalized with SAP customers. Since it is a captive installed base, we will have a big customer base," adds Deshmukh. "From a capability stand point, our SMB products are pretty much the same as for a large enterprise, but comes at a lower cost."

BusinessObjects Edge Series
The Edge series is a huge success among the mid-market segment. BusinessObjects Edge Series 3.0 provides mid-sized companies with a fast and trusted way to get started with BI. "However, a lot more needs to be done as it is a growing market," says Deshmukh.

The Edge Series is a simple, affordable, and proven suite of BI products for small and mid-size companies.

More solution partners
"We are looking at 25 solution partners with specific domain expertise that gets coupled with our technology. An entrepreneur who is based in a particular city and has got a captive customer base of 10 plus clients to service," says Deshmukh.

Business Objects has three lines of product offerings: Premium, Professional and Standard. "These three flavours cater to different sectors of Indian SMEs. Since the licensing policy works well, the product is ready, says Deshmukh, adding, "We are in the process of identifying the SAP implementation partners. We want to tie up with them and give them a joint offering," he adds.

Business Objects' application mainly caters to BFSI, Telecom and Retail sectors though it spans across industry verticals." Our approach is horizontal and we try to verticalize it through our partners," says Deshmukh.

"Auto ancillary is one of the segments we have identified in India to extend the SAP implementation thereby assuring them the value of Business Intelligence. We want to tell them how BI helps companies improve their bottom line. Traditionally, BI is used in the front end, rarely at the operational front," he adds.