Birst Extends BI Market Leadership; Outscores Major BI Vendors in Global Survey

Annual Wisdom of Crowds(R) Market Study Reveals Cloud BI Increases the Most as a Technology Priority Over 2012


SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - May 23, 2013) - Birst Inc., the leader in Cloud BI, announced today that its enterprise-caliber Cloud BI platform was top ranked within the 2013 Wisdom of Crowds® Business Intelligence Market Study. Birst, a newcomer to the annual study, outscored all vendors categorized as BI Industry Titans and High Growth BI Vendors, and received a higher score than most major vendors in the Large Established Pure-Play BI Vendors category. Scores were based on direct user feedback and covered quality and usefulness of product, value for price, whether a vendor is recommended, and other criteria.

In addition, surveyed respondents reported only three technologies related to Business Intelligence increased in importance during 2013, the most being Software-as-a-Service (Cloud BI) followed by Dashboards and Mobile Device Support. The report also points out the importance of the majority of related technologies decreasing over 2012, noting that Big Data and Open Source technologies were among those that declined the most. 1

Birst, a first time entrant in the "BI Emerging Vendors" segment, which are described as typically younger than companies in other categories and offering unique and often innovative business models, technologies and/or services, scored above all but one of its peers, and was singularly noted as "best in class" in both the Sales and Product categories. Specific features and functionalities recognized as best in class included sales responsiveness; sales follow up after the sale; and ease of upgrade/migration to new versions.

"Being able to provide enterprise-class BI in the Cloud is at the very core of Birst's success. Our impressive scores within this survey validate that our technology is aligned with the market need. Customers are demanding more accessible, more manageable BI in the Cloud and that's where Birst excels," said Brad Peters, CEO and Co-founder of Birst. "There has been a definite shift in priorities among today's organizations. They require better technology to gain clearer insights from an increasing amount of data. We look forward to continuing the successes noted within this study and to extending our BI marketplace dominance."

"Among the top technology priorities we found in this year's study was an increase in demand for Cloud BI. As a BI vendor with both a Cloud and on-premise offering, Birst was in the top five vendors across all categories, which is an impressive accomplishment," said Howard Dresner, President, Founder and Chief Research Officer at Dresner Advisory Services.

Conducted by Dresner Advisory Services, the global study compared 23 of the world's leading BI vendors on a five-point scale across 33 criteria. The results are based on feedback from 1,182 qualified participants with first-hand experience with vendor products and services. Vendor rankings are based on sales experience, value, quality and usefulness of product, quality of technical support, quality and value of consulting services, and whether existing clients would recommend the vendor and its product to others. Now in its fourth year, the study is used by business people to better understand how their peers are leveraging and investing in BI and related technologies.

To learn more about Birst's performance in the 2013 Wisdom of Crowds® Business Intelligence Market Study and access your own copy of the report, please visit www. birst.com/2013wisdom.

About Birst
Birst is the only enterprise-caliber Business Intelligence platform born in the cloud. Less costly and more agile than Legacy BI and more powerful than Data Discovery, Birst is engineered with an automated data warehouse and rich, visual analytics, to give meaning to data -- all types and sizes. Coupled with the agility of the Cloud, Birst gives business teams the ability to solve real problems. Fast. Find out why Gartner named Birst a Challenger in its most recent BI Magic Quadrant and why more than a thousand businesses rely on Birst for their analytic needs. Learn to think fast at www.birst.com and join the conversation @birstbi.

1 2013 Wisdom of Crowds® Business Intelligence Market Study, Copyright 2013 -- Dresner Advisory Services

Contact Information:

For more information, contact:
Stacey Burbach
Point Communications Group for Birst, Inc.
602.279.1137