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Given the push and huge investments companies are making in business intelligence, Nucleus Research recently looked at the ROI potential of BI products from Business Objects, Cognos, Hyperion, Microsoft, MicroStrategy, and SAS.

For purposes of our survey, we interviewed 30 users at all levels on a variety of topics concerning their selection and implementation of the software. While these customers were generally pleased with the technology advancements of BI products, their final decisions were driven by several key business factors that bubbled up during the product-selection process.

If you're currently weighing a BI purchase, the following points may strike a chord or spur you to explore additional areas:

Comfort factor. After evaluating the technical merits of a product, companies are looking at the people behind the technology. How easy are they to work with? What support options do they provide? How do they speak of their competitors? In one case, a company found two products that would suit its technical requirements, but went with the higher-priced tool because the vendor of that product had a better understanding of the company's business. In addition, the company tired of all the competitive bad-mouthing from the other vendor.

Vertical expertise. The value of BI systems is now well-proven, and the product choices are vast. Industry-specific knowledge and guidance provide a faster path to ROI.

Powerful versus pretty. In order to cater to two distinct sets of users, companies must strike a balance between experienced users' need for speed and the easy access and rich graphical features that will let new users join the BI nation.—Kathy Quirk, research manager, Nucleus Research