The consolidation in the business intelligence (BI) market shows no sign of slowing, with SAP the latest to join the acquisition trail with its agreement to buy Business Objects. The deal follows this year’s acquisitions by Oracle and Cognos of Hyperion and Applix respectively.

SAP’s move is surprising given recent statements of its intention to grow organically, but obviously the chance to snap up Business Objects was too good an opportunity to pass up. For its part, Business Objects is said to have been searching for a suitable buyer for a while.

But while these vendors may be happy to have found suitable bedfellows, IT managers wanting to do business with a vendor-agnostic BI specialist are likely to be less pleased.

Those looking for best-of-breed BI packages face a rapidly diminishing choice, and must be hoping that the few independent vendors that remain will continue to resist the blandishments of acquisitive giants such as SAP and Oracle.