This IDC study, which is a translation of the Japanese report J6070104, analyzes the Japan database management system (DBMS) and business intelligence (BI) tool markets both as a whole and by submarket and vendor.

In 2005, Japan's DBMS market grew 2.4% from 2004 to 176.3 billion yen. Meanwhile, the BI tool market grew 3.6% to 26.3 billion yen.

"The DBMS market is increasingly oligopolized by the top three global vendors. Japan vendors and middle-/lower-ranking vendors should narrow down their target markets/users. In the face of market erosion by database or ERP vendors, BI tool vendors should fight for survival by providing professional services that leverage proprietary know-how," comments Kazuyuki Ide, group director, Software/IT Service, IDC Japan.