SAS Survey Reveals Europe-Based Firms Make Good Use of BI Tools

Marketing leaders across Europe said business intelligence tools lead to a 16 percent higher ability to understand customer needs.

This was a key finding from a survey of executives at 350 companies in seven countries and across four industries commissioned by SAS, a business intelligence vendor in Cary, NC, and carried out by IDC's CMO Advisory Research group.

The survey examined a company's use of BI tools for improving planning and execution, and how BI can lead to better organizational performance.

According to SAS, the survey found that in general, marketing leaders use BI and this fact cements their leadership position. The top benefit, according to the survey's findings, is being able to optimize customer communications, followed by generating action-ready insight based on customer value metrics.

SAS said that as marketing organizations face increasing pressure for improved accountability and alignment with budget, their key objective is the ability to provide insight into current and forecasted needs of individual customers and market segments - and act upon those needs. The survey results indicate that marketing organizations that invest in BI technology and utilize it efficiently also achieve better financial results and a higher return of marketing investment.

SAS commissioned IDC Research to conduct the study in Germany, Italy, France, The Netherlands, Poland, UK and Denmark across the retail, telecommunications, manufacturing, and financial services industries.

The survey and the findings were presented at SAS Forum International - the annual premier event for enterprise business intelligence taking place in Geneva, May 16 - 18.