Today's announcement that IBM are buying Cognos has implications for the whole BI market, and more broadly the Apps Software space. As highlighted below, IBM is now an Application Software player, regardless of the spin they put on things. HP will make some sort of a move in the space soon.

Another wild card is Accenture. It has traditionally  avoided acquiring software companies, prefering to build or partner. But as IBM, HP, Oracle and SAP (as well as Infosys and others) radically blur the distinctions between a services and software company, can Accenture continue to drive a partner based model. Given that Oracle and SAP will become the vendor with the power in terms of choosing a partner, the whole relationships in this space are at a very delicate position at this point in time.

Accenture may benefit IF Oracle and SAP move from the blurry Software/Services companies (IBM and HP), to partner with those firms such as Accenture that are just services. However they may also be left behind if the market moves in a slightly different direction.

This is the sort of market plays that make the market so interesting from the perspective of an analyst.