A question we get asked all the time: what does business intelligence software cost?

The short answer: enough that it is a serious investment and should not be considered lightly.

Many business intelligence software companies, including Data Clarity, do not list their product’s cost on their website; we always ask you to give us a call to discuss your needs. There is a legitimate reason for this, given how many different needs BI software can meet and how customizable it can be to each business.

However, we recognise that it can still be frustrating.

You are ready to cross that BI bridge to data-driven business decisions, but you instead have to call a company and answer further questions.

The Cost and Benefit of Business Intelligence

So, what is the average cost of business intelligence software?

Depending on the size of your organisation, SMEs can expect to pay about £3,000 per year.

Mind you, my £3,000 figure is taken from a sample of eleven companies, and it does not account for all of the versions a BI vendor may offer. In coming to my average, I went with the most basic, least expensive plan for each vendor. Plans differed by the number of users.

There are options out there that cost way more than my £3,000 average – enterprise systems can reach into the tens and hundreds of thousands. Those are targeted at enterprise-sized businesses, however. There are also free business intelligence tools out there, if you’re an SMB without a large IT budget, though they tend to be comparatively limited (they only extend to one, occasionally two, users).

You are in the best position to understand your company’s needs, but you should always consider that business intelligence software isn’t, and shouldn’t be, cheap because of the value it can bring to your business.

It’s worth noting that tech research giant Gartner’s take on buying BI software is that “cost should be a secondary consideration to the achievement of business benefits” (full content available to Gartner clients). It is also worth considering that the businesses that focus most on cost seem to benefit the least. A recent Gartner survey finds that buyers who focused primarily on cost “reported the lowest average overall business benefit” (full content available to Gartner clients). Businesses that focused primarily on program functionality (what and how much their BI program can do) reported the highest business benefit.

Think of BI software as a Fitbit, or any fitness tracker, for your business. That initial price seems steep, but if you truly incorporate the data-driven insights into the fitness of your body —or your business— it pays off.

Are you finding that you are paying too much for your business intelligence tools? Talk to our data experts today to find out about our award-winning solutions.