Last word: Companies that can find and capitalize on information such as comments by customers and competitors will find themselves ahead of the pack.

5. BI competency centers will increase in importance.

As the amount and variety of data grow, business will need a BI competency center—a group of IT and business leaders whose buy-in and evangelizing will make or break the success of a BI implementation. This group creates the BI vision, manages the spending and tools, sets standards for using those tools and helps define business intelligence success.

This group should also keep in mind the four pillars of a successful BI implementation, according to consultancy Gartner: user training, data stewardship, a focus on metadata and a focus on possible next steps to be taken.

Last word: Successful BI requires structure and process support. New tools and new types of information will not change those requirements.

The Wild Card: Effects of BI Vendor Consolidation

For the BI marketplace, 2007 was all about mergers and acquisitions. What will that mean for 2008? The largest pure-play vendors have already been snatched up by the giants. Experts are divided on just how much M&A activity will continue and what the consolidation will mean for customers. Many analysts say that M&A activity in the business intelligence space will be mostly about megavendors rounding out their purchases to create more complete product lines. Still, it won't be easy for megavendors to integrate all the various solutions they've acquired. And you won't be stuck with only megavendors to choose from: Smaller players will continue to innovate, analysts say.

Last word: The results from the IBM-Cognos, SAP-Business Objects, Oracle-Hyperion and other deals have yet to fully play out. While vendor alliances matter, keep your eyes on the prize—your core business goals and whose solutions will best help you reach them.