Britain beats Europe in business intelligence

British small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) adopt business intelligence at a much higher rate than the rest of Europe, as it has a culture and history of using data to make decisions.

This was according to senior vice president for SMBs at SAP Luis Murguia, speaking to IT PRO in London today. He said that European businesses tended to make decisions on assumptions, rather than firm data.

"British companies put much more relevance onto good technology and solutions to manage processes," Murguia said.

Jim Williams, managing director of SAP customer TMG Telecoms, said ERP and business intelligence software were important in competing against enterprises like BT.

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"They are the Goliath and we are the David, and they are very good at what they do and what we do," he said.

"The difference is we turn like a speedboat and they turn like an oil tanker. But to take advantage of our ability to turn we need to have the information to support it."

Williams said of SAP's software: "It will assist with the growth aspects of the business, because it enables us to talk to different sectors and clients."

Murguia used the example of law firm Shoosmith, which was in the process of integrating a complete SAP solution, as it wanted to use one consistent information system to expand and grow.

David Bason, IT director at fellow SAP customer Shoosmith, said business intelligence would help his firm grow and appeal to its customers.

"We see an increasing demand in our customers, who are becoming more discerning and more demanding, and want more for less," he said.