That growth can be attributed to the explosion in end- user access enabled by the Web. For example, a Department of Housing and Urban Development grant system designed by Lockheed Martin Corp. of Bethesda, Md., manages 100,000 transactions a day by about 3,000 users, all logging on via the Web, according to Ray Bassler, a Lockheed Martin computer specialist. That prompted the creation of a business intelligence system incorporating a suite of Information Builders tools. About 10 percent of Information Builders' North American business comes from the government sector, which could grow to 15 percent if its public-sector plans are borne out, said Gerald Cohen, chief executive officer and one of the company's three founders and owners. Unisys Corp. While it continues to pursue federal agencies, Information Builders also is stepping up marketing efforts to state and local jurisdictions.
Manufacturing is the firm's largest commercial market.
This has become a specialty. State and local will grow even faster than federal, since market penetration is not as deep there, he added. Two-thirds of Cognos' government business is direct, with the remaining third coming through the channel and original equipment manufacturer deals. Government agencies' interest in business intelligence applications began about four years ago, when data warehouses rose in prominence, Plummer said. The Web solved the problem of settling on a standard client-server infrastructure and common look and feel for access software across an agency.