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SAP is on the acquisition trail again, hitting two targets with one stone with the planned acquisition of cloud predictive analytics provider KXEN. Terms of the deal, which is expected to complete in Q4, were not disclosed but it will be a relatively small acquisition. San Francisco-based KXEN was founded in 1998 and has received c$8m in funding.
SAP has a wealth of predictive and traditional analytics assets but KXEN will bring something new because its tools are designed for use by line of business managers and analysts. Predictive analytics tools have been the preserve of experts like data scientists but the ability to broaden access will be an important factor in adding volume to the market. As analytics is one of the few high growth areas in the software market (see ESAS Market Trends and Forecast 2013) and an area many providers are looking to for new business, the ability to attract users from across organisations is vital.
Vendors are latching onto the need for business user accessible predictive analytics applications and data visualisation. Alpine Data Labs and Alteryx are KNEX competitors focussing on business user accessible predictive analytics based on machine learning. Long established SAS is has introduced Visual Analytics which aims to open up advanced analytics to all types of users. Workday has just released Workday Big Data Analytics which is also in the ‘analytics for everyone’ mould. As the conference season gets underway we can expect a lot more news about accessible analytics – from vendors building their own or snapping assets up via acquisitions.
