The BI (business intelligence) software market cooled off a bit in 2012 after "a few historic banner years" of spending growth, due to difficult economic conditions and even confusion over industry buzzwords like "big data," according to a report from analyst firm Gartner. Global spending on BI software was $13.1 billion last year, a 6.8 percent rise over 2011's $12.3 billion total, but the pace of growth slowed considerably from the approximately 17 percent rate experienced in 2011, Gartner said in the report released Thursday.