Self-service analytics with advanced capabilities powered by AI continue to be a goal for most enterprises, according to a new series of research reports from leading global technology research and advisory firm Information Services Group (ISG).
The ISG Buyers Guides for Analytics and Data, produced by ISG Software Research (formerly Ventana Research), say AI and machine learning expand the power of analytics technology to classify, predict, and suggest behaviors that help improve business operations. The report says GenAI-based self-service data preparation capabilities will reduce the need for IT involvement and enable business users to directly access integrated data.
“Software providers are using AI and ML to provide augmented intelligence capabilities such as automated insights and key driver analyses that require little or no input from users and make it easier to gain insights,” said David Menninger, executive director, ISG Software Research. “Almost all business intelligence software providers will include augmented intelligence based on GenAI by 2026.”
Analytics software providers also use GenAI to enable natural language processing, making it easier to find information via search and offering narratives explaining the analyses.
Collaboration tools with embedded analytics are becoming much more commonplace, ISG says. Two-thirds of organizations report using or planning to use collaboration with analytics, the report notes. Software providers now offer many options to enable collaboration, ranging from commenting on analyses to rating data sources. Other applications enable organizations to assign tasks and track them to completion, ensuring that the enterprise takes specific actions.
The ISG report says that by 2026, more than two-thirds of workers will have immediate access to cross-functional analytics embedded in activities and processes, helping to make operational decision-making more efficient and effective.
For its 2024 Analytics and Data Buyers Guides, ISG evaluated software providers across five analytics and data-related software categories—Analytics and Data, Collaborative Analytics, Embedded Analytics, GenAI Analytics, and Mobile Analytics—and produced a separate Buyers Guide for each. A total of 21 providers were assessed: Alibaba Cloud, Amazon Web Services, Cloud Software Group, Domo, GoodData, Google Cloud, IBM, Idera, Incorta, Infor, insightsoftware, Microsoft, MicroStrategy, Oracle, Qlik, Salesforce (Tableau), SAP, SAS, Sisense, ThoughtSpot, and Zoho.
ISG Software Research designates the top three software providers as Leaders in each category. For the 2024 study, the leading providers in ranked order are:
Analytics and Data: Oracle, SAP, and Microsoft
Collaborative Analytics: Oracle, Domo, and SAP
Embedded Analytics: Oracle, Microsoft, and SAP
GenAI Analytics: Oracle, SAP, and Domo
Mobile Analytics: Oracle, Microsoft, and Domo
“As organizations expand the spectrum of their analytic requirements, transitioning to enterprise-class analytics is the next and essential step toward the broadscale adoption of AI,” said Mark Smith, partner, ISG Software Research. “Software providers, enhancing their platforms with GenAI, are looking to offer an entire spectrum of capabilities to meet the need for enterprise-class analytics.”
The ISG Buyers Guides on Analytics and Data are the distillation of more than a year of market and product research efforts. The research is not sponsored nor influenced by software providers and is conducted solely to help enterprises optimize their business and IT software investments.
Visit this webpage to learn more about these ISG Buyers Guides and read executive summaries of each of the five reports. The complete reports, including provider rankings across seven product and customer experience dimensions and detailed research findings on each provider, are available by contacting ISG Software Research.
