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2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey

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2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey
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By Joseph McKendrick, Research Analyst Produced by Unisphere Research, a Division of Information Today, Inc. May 2013 Sponsored by 2013 BIG DATA OPPORTUNITIES SURVEY
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Page 1: 2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey

By Joseph McKendrick, Research AnalystProduced by Unisphere Research, a Division of Information Today, Inc.May 2013

Sponsored by

2013 BIG DATAOPPORTUNITIESSURVEY

Page 2: 2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey

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2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey was produced by Unisphere Research and sponsored by SAP. Unisphere Research is the market research unit of Unisphere Media, a division ofInformation Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters. To review abstracts of our past reports, visitwww.dbta.com/About_Us#Unisphere. Unisphere Media, 630 Central Avenue, Murray Hill, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3701, Web: www.dbta.com.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Big Data Initiatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

The Enterprise Big Data Landscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Big Data Opportunities and Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Demographics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

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2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey was produced by Unisphere Research and sponsored by SAP. Unisphere Research is the market research unit of Unisphere Media, a division ofInformation Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters. To review abstracts of our past reports, visitwww.dbta.com/About_Us#Unisphere. Unisphere Media, 630 Central Avenue, Murray Hill, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3701, Web: www.dbta.com.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Big data isn’t just the exclusive property of big web propertiessuch as Google, Facebook, eBay and Yahoo. While thesecompanies blazed the path in harnessing the analytic power of big data, organizations of all different sizes and industrygroups are now leveraging big data in many ways as well.

That’s the finding of a survey of 304 data managers andprofessionals, conducted by Unisphere Research, a division of Information Today Inc. The survey, fielded in April 2013,revealed a range of practical approaches that organizations of all types and sizes are adopting to manage and capitalize on the big data flowing through their enterprises.

It’s important to separate the big data hype from the on-the-ground reality for enterprises in their day-to-day businesses.For example, there’s a perception that big data only surrenders its wealth when crunched on the same large-scale clusteringtechnologies that are employed by the big web companies.However, many big data problems and opportunities are beingaddressed on existing, conventional technologies such asrelational databases. Most companies are not concerned withindexing the world’s web information or delivering real-timerecommendations to millions of users. Rather, they are focusedon better understanding how a particular product or service isbeing received, or who is more likely to buy a new offering.

The bottom line is that big data is more than simply amassinglarge quantities of bits and bytes and attempting to slice and dice it enough to glean some insights. Rather, it’s a process ofunderstanding the value of information to the business, andworking with the business to achieve growth. The ability tomanage and harvest important business data from datasets largeand small is a concern for executives across the board, whetherthey are running manufacturing companies or schools.

Key findings from the survey include the following:

For many organizations today, handling data is not businessas usual. More than two-fifths report they have formal “bigdata” initiatives in progress, most of which focus on greatercustomer analysis.

Between one-third and one-half of the organizations surveyedreport high levels of volume, variety, velocity, and value indata—the “four Vs” that define big data. Two-fifths nowmaintain data stores in the hundreds of terabytes and greater,and three-fourths face restive user bases that want more datato do their jobs.

Most executives intuitively understand the advantages big data can bring to their operations, especially with predictiveanalytics and customer analytics. However, organizational and skills issues may slow down their progress.

Respondents represent a wide range of job titles and,organizations. Leading titles mentioned include DBAs (17%),data architects (13%) and IT consultants (11%). Another 15% of respondents are IT managers and executives, while 8% arebusiness unit executives. More than one-fourth come fromorganizations with more than 10,000 employees, and the samenumber represent small firms with 100 or fewer employees.Industries represented include IT and tech, government, financialservices, business and consumer services, and education. (SeeFigures 34–36.)

Many respondents may be enthusiastic about the potentialbig data offers, but understand that it needs to be represented to corporate leaders as providing clear business benefits. As onerespondent put it: “Management sees the opportunity associatedwith closer understanding of customers and micro segmentation.But we need to avoid the words ‘big data,’ as people do not really understand what it means—but do associate big datawith big costs.”

Still, there are a number of survey respondents whosecompanies are already seeing direct benefits from their big dataefforts. “Our organization strives best when it maximizes thesuccess of its customers and direct salesforce,” says a respondent.“Big data properly analyzed not only provides the information to make better and timely business decisions, it also helps todetermine behaviors and success factors in our direct sellers.”

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2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey was produced by Unisphere Research and sponsored by SAP. Unisphere Research is the market research unit of Unisphere Media, a division ofInformation Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters. To review abstracts of our past reports, visitwww.dbta.com/About_Us#Unisphere. Unisphere Media, 630 Central Avenue, Murray Hill, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3701, Web: www.dbta.com.

More than two-fifths of respondents indicate that theirorganizations have some type of formal “big data” initiativeunderway. (See Figure 1.) This may include the formation ofspecial cross-organizational teams or committees to examineways to better exploit this resource, or programs withindepartments—such as marketing—designed to mine andgenerate insights on available data. “Management is starting to recognize the importance of big data, but is just unsure howwe can integrate it into our company,” says one respondent.

It’s not surprising that many of the largest organizations inthis survey—those with 1,000 employees and up—are engaged inbig data initiatives. But there are many small firms also engagingbig data as well. More than a third of the smallest companies oragencies in the survey, 37%, report big data efforts, along with43% of those organizations with employees numbering in thehundreds. (See Figure 2.)

Industry groups in the survey leading the way with big datainitiatives include services and retail (61%), financial services andinsurance (58%), and IT and tech (45%). (See Figure 3.)

What is driving these big data initiatives? There are a myriad ofbusiness reasons, but most respondents indicate that it is a way toimprove internal processes. For a majority of the respondents withsuch efforts underway, 59%, there is a need to improve existingprocesses. In addition, another 41% are concerned with the need tocreate new business processes/models. Another 39% are concernedwith the need to reduce time to access data. (See Figure 4.)

Big data initiatives also represent a range of business activity.A majority of respondents with big data initiatives, 55%, indicatethat they are focusing on customer analysis and segmentation.Close to half, 46%, are concerned with historical/archived dataanalysis, while 39% are applying big data analytics to productionsystems’ log monitoring and analysis. (See Figure 5.)

The data being employed in many big data efforts isn’tnecessarily exotic or hard to capture. Rather, most organizationswith formal big data efforts underway are employinginformation that is already sitting on machines or in storagesystems within their enterprises. The survey finds a majority of those respondents with big data initiatives, 51%, say they areworking with existing production or transactional data. Another49% are working with real-time data feeds, suggesting that this is an important early step for many organizations seeking tocapitalize on big data. Another traditional source of data thatmay already be captured and managed within the walls ofenterprises—ERP and CRM data—also are the basis of many big data efforts. (See Figure 6.)

Two-fifths of organizations also rely on archived or historicaldata—for initiatives such as data warehousing—as the foundationof their big data efforts. “The further we can see back in historicaltrends in relation to today, both in-house and across the sector,the better able we are to make product and marketing decisionsthat decrease operation cost and increase revenue,” says onerespondent.

BIG DATA INITIATIVES

For many organizations today, handling data is not business as usual. More than two-fifths report they have formal “big data”initiatives in progress, most of which focus on greater customer analysis.

Figure 1: Specific Enterprise “Big Data” Initiatives Underway?

Yes 43%

Don’t know/unsure 15%

No, it's business as usual within our data environment 42%

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2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey was produced by Unisphere Research and sponsored by SAP. Unisphere Research is the market research unit of Unisphere Media, a division ofInformation Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters. To review abstracts of our past reports, visitwww.dbta.com/About_Us#Unisphere. Unisphere Media, 630 Central Avenue, Murray Hill, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3701, Web: www.dbta.com.

Figure 2: Specific Enterprise “Big Data” Initiatives Underway—By Company Size

1 to 100 employees 37%

101 to 1,000 employees 43%

1,001 to 10,000 employees 47%

10,000+ employees 53%

0 20 40 60 80 100(Multiple responses permitted.)

Figure 3: Specific Enterprise “Big Data” Initiatives Underway —By Industry

Retail/services 61%

Financial services/insurance 58%

IT services/products 45%

Manufacturing 29%

Government/education 27%

0 20 40 60 80 100(Multiple responses permitted.)

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2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey was produced by Unisphere Research and sponsored by SAP. Unisphere Research is the market research unit of Unisphere Media, a division ofInformation Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters. To review abstracts of our past reports, visitwww.dbta.com/About_Us#Unisphere. Unisphere Media, 630 Central Avenue, Murray Hill, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3701, Web: www.dbta.com.

Figure 4: Drivers of Enterprise “Big Data” Initiatives

Need to improve existing processes 59%

Need to create new business processes/ 41%models

Need to reduce time to access data 39%

Need more visibility into our customer base 37%

Management needs to develop/open new 32%lines of business

We need more visibility into our internal 32% operations

Need to realign more with customers 27%

Competitors are doing it 25%

Looking to package and sell information 13%

Other 6%

0 20 40 60 80 100(Multiple responses permitted.)

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2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey was produced by Unisphere Research and sponsored by SAP. Unisphere Research is the market research unit of Unisphere Media, a division ofInformation Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters. To review abstracts of our past reports, visitwww.dbta.com/About_Us#Unisphere. Unisphere Media, 630 Central Avenue, Murray Hill, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3701, Web: www.dbta.com.

Figure 5: Types of Big Data Initiatives

Customer analysis/segmentation 55%

Historical/archived data analysis 46%

Production systems log monitoring/analysis 39%

Website monitoring/log analysis 36%

IT systems log monitoring/analysis 37%

Competitive/market analysis 36%

Content management (photos, images, 32%documents)

Social media analysis 25%

Testing/analyzing new products/R&D 25%

Other 5%

0 20 40 60 80 100(Multiple responses permitted.)

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2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey was produced by Unisphere Research and sponsored by SAP. Unisphere Research is the market research unit of Unisphere Media, a division ofInformation Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters. To review abstracts of our past reports, visitwww.dbta.com/About_Us#Unisphere. Unisphere Media, 630 Central Avenue, Murray Hill, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3701, Web: www.dbta.com.

Figure 6: Types of Data Used in Big Data Initiatives

Production or transactional data 51%

Real-time data feeds 49%

Textual data (documents) 41%

ERP data 41%

CRM data 40%

Archived/historical data 39%

Web logs 34%

Social media data 32%

Multimedia (imagery, audio) 29%

Machine to machine data 22%

Sensor data 20%

Spatial data 16%

Other 3%

0 20 40 60 80 100(Multiple responses permitted.)

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2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey was produced by Unisphere Research and sponsored by SAP. Unisphere Research is the market research unit of Unisphere Media, a division ofInformation Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters. To review abstracts of our past reports, visitwww.dbta.com/About_Us#Unisphere. Unisphere Media, 630 Central Avenue, Murray Hill, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3701, Web: www.dbta.com.

Big data is often defined by the “four Vs”—volume, variety,velocity and value. On all four counts, the survey shows, big datais everywhere, within a range of organizations.

Volume: There are considerable volumes of data movingthrough enterprises. One-sixth of the organizations surveyed, infact (17%), report having more than a petabyte of data they arecurrently managing, taking into account all clones, snapshots,replicas and backups. Another 22% report maintaining their totaldata across their organizations ranges in the hundreds ofterabytes. (See Figure 7.) Not surprisingly, most of the high-volume data is seen within larger organizations. Sixty-eightpercent of companies or agencies with more than 10,000employees have data across their organizations exceeding 100TBs, versus only 8% of the smallest firms with less than 100employees. (See Figure 8.)

Industry groups leading the way in terms of data volumeinclude the financial services and insurance sector, where two-thirds report enterprise data exceeding 100 TBs. Manufacturersare also big consumers of big data, with 39% reporting datascaling into the hundreds of terabytes. Retail and service firmsfollow at 36%. (See Figure 9.)

The volume shows no signs of letting up. How will the overallvolume of data in respondents’ organizations change over thenext three years? Just about every respondent, 96%, expects theirdata to increase in volume. More than one-fourth of respondents,26%, say it will double. (See Figure 10.)

Variety: The ability to extract insights from unstructured data—which is the essence of big data—represents opportunities forreal business returns. What percentage of data in respondents’enterprises is unstructured data (web logs, social media data,sensor data, documents, imagery, audio)? A large segment, 42%,estimate that a significant portion of their data stores—25% ormore—is already in the form of unstructured data. (See Figure 11.)

Interestingly, unstructured data is as much a part of thepicture for small firms as it is large, global organizations. (SeeFigure 12.) In addition, the prevalence of unstructured data cutsacross most major industry groups in the survey. (See Figure 13.)

An overwhelming majority, 87%, say the amount ofunstructured data in respondents’ organizations will increaseover the next three years. Close to a third, 31%, expect theirunstructured data stores to increase by more than 50% in thattime period. (See Figure 14.)

Velocity: The ability to move data from its sources to decisionmakers and applications at real or right-time speeds (deliveredwithin one hour of creation) is another demand of big data. Thisis a capability that still has not been put in place at a majority ofenterprises. Only one-fourth of respondents say that a significantamount of the data they maintain (more than 25%) is deliveredreal time. (See Figure 15.)

There is significantly more progress among organizations thathave formal big data programs in place, the survey also reveals.Close to one-third of respondents with big data programs reportthat a significant portion of their data is delivered real-time,versus 21% of respondents with no formal efforts underway.(See Figure 16.)

Small to mid-sized businesses tend to have larger proportionsof real-time data, the survey finds. For example, one-third oforganizations with between 100 and 1,000 employees have asignificant share real-time data available to their enterprises,compared to only 15% of the largest companies. (See Figure 17.)

By industry, the financial services sector leads the way, withone-third of organizations in this category offering a significantsegment of its data in real-time mode. The tech sector follows at23%, and government agencies with 22%. (See Figure 18.)

Over the next three years, close to a third of respondents, 30%,expect significant growth in the amount of real-time data beingmade available, exceeding 50% of their current data stores. (SeeFigure 19.) A similar percentage expect to see end-user demandfor real-time increase as well. One-third say there will be asignificant increase in demand, exceeding 50% over currentlevels. (See Figure 20.) As one respondent put it: “The currentsystems we have do not provide instant-access—dashboarding—to data to make critical changes on each business day before thatbusiness day is over.”

Value: Finally, what makes big data meaningful is its ability to deliver insights to decision makers that move organizationsforward. Three-fourths of respondents say they see usersdemanding access to more data to better drive their decisions andinsights. (See Figure 21.) “Everyone wants access to the data nowand they also need queries to be fast, given the mountains of datawe are facing,” says one respondent.

In addition, respondents were asked to indicate the importanceof big data to their businesses. A majority, 58%, report that bigdata is “extremely” to “very” important. (See Figure 22.) There isa strong business case to be made for harnessing the power of big

THE ENTERPRISE BIG DATA LANDSCAPE

Between one-third and one-half of the organizations surveyed report high levels of volume, variety, velocity, and value in data– the “four Vs” that define big data. Two-fifths now maintain data stores in the hundreds of terabytes and greater, and three-fourths face restive user bases that want more data to do their jobs.

▼ ▼

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2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey was produced by Unisphere Research and sponsored by SAP. Unisphere Research is the market research unit of Unisphere Media, a division ofInformation Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters. To review abstracts of our past reports, visitwww.dbta.com/About_Us#Unisphere. Unisphere Media, 630 Central Avenue, Murray Hill, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3701, Web: www.dbta.com.

data. One respondent outlined his company's commitment: “Webelieve that additional information, derivable from analysis of asingle large set of related data, as compared to separate smallersets with the same total amount of data, allows correlations to befound to operational issues,” the respondent says. “Quickresolution would benefit our organization to serve our customersbetter and increase our subscriber base.”

Respondents whose organizations are actively addressing bigdata opportunities through formal programs are almost three timesas likely to recognize the value of the resource. Close to nine-tenths

of respondents with big data efforts indicate big data is “extremely”or “very” important to their businesses. (See Figure 23.)

Small to mid-size businesses place the greatest importance onbig data, the survey finds. Sixty-five percent of organizations withbetween 100 and 1,000 employees say big data is “extremely”or“very” important to their business, versus 35% of the largestorganizations in the survey. (See Figure 24.) Financial servicesand tech firms are the most likely to see the business value in bigdata—close to two-thirds of respondents within each categorysay this information is important. (See Figure 25.)

Figure 7: Total Amount of Data Managed

< 5 Terabytes (TBs) 27%

5 to 50 TBs 24%

50 to 100 TBs 11%

100 to 500 TBs 11%

500 TBs to 1 Petabyte (PB) 11%

1 to 10 PBs 8%

>10 PBs 9%

0 20 40 60 80 100(Multiple responses permitted.)

Page 11: 2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey

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2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey was produced by Unisphere Research and sponsored by SAP. Unisphere Research is the market research unit of Unisphere Media, a division ofInformation Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters. To review abstracts of our past reports, visitwww.dbta.com/About_Us#Unisphere. Unisphere Media, 630 Central Avenue, Murray Hill, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3701, Web: www.dbta.com.

Figure 8: Big Data Sites Managing More Than 100 Terabytes —By Company Size

1 to 100 employees 8%

101 to 1,000 employees 28%

1,001 to 10,000 employees 47%

10,000+ employees 68%

0 20 40 60 80 100(Multiple responses permitted.)

Figure 9: Big Data Sites Managing More Than 100 Terabytes —By Industry

Financial services/insurance 66%

Manufacturing 39%

Retail/services 36%

IT services/products 33%

Government/education 31%

0 20 40 60 80 100(Multiple responses permitted.)

Page 12: 2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey

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2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey was produced by Unisphere Research and sponsored by SAP. Unisphere Research is the market research unit of Unisphere Media, a division ofInformation Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters. To review abstracts of our past reports, visitwww.dbta.com/About_Us#Unisphere. Unisphere Media, 630 Central Avenue, Murray Hill, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3701, Web: www.dbta.com.

Figure 10: Changes in Enterprise Data Volume Over Next Three Years

Increase by more than 100% 26%

Increase 51% to 100% 22%

Increase 26% to 50% 21%

Increase 10% to 25% 22%

Increase 1% to 10% 6%

No change 3%

Decrease 0.35%

0 20 40 60 80 100(Multiple responses permitted.)

Figure 11: Percentage of Enterprise Data That Is Unstructured

None at this time 5%

<10% 25%

Between 10% to 25% 29%

Between 25% to 50% 27%

>50% 15%

0 20 40 60 80 100(Multiple responses permitted.)

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2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey was produced by Unisphere Research and sponsored by SAP. Unisphere Research is the market research unit of Unisphere Media, a division ofInformation Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters. To review abstracts of our past reports, visitwww.dbta.com/About_Us#Unisphere. Unisphere Media, 630 Central Avenue, Murray Hill, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3701, Web: www.dbta.com.

Figure 12: Unstructured Big Data Sites With More Than 25% of Data Unstructured—By Company Size

1 to 100 employees 44%

101 to 1,000 employees 34%

1,001 to 10,000 employees 46%

10,000+ employees 44%

0 20 40 60 80 100(Multiple responses permitted.)

Figure 13: Unstructured Big Data Sites With More Than 25% of Data Unstructured—By Industry

Financial services/insurance 48%

Manufacturing 48%

IT services/products 45%

Government/education 45%

Retail/services 43%

0 20 40 60 80 100(Multiple responses permitted.)

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2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey was produced by Unisphere Research and sponsored by SAP. Unisphere Research is the market research unit of Unisphere Media, a division ofInformation Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters. To review abstracts of our past reports, visitwww.dbta.com/About_Us#Unisphere. Unisphere Media, 630 Central Avenue, Murray Hill, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3701, Web: www.dbta.com.

Figure 14: Changes in Enterprise Unstructured Data Volume Over Next Three Years

Increase by more than 100% 15%

Increase 51% to 100% 16%

Increase 26% to 50% 20%

Increase 10% to 25% 19%

Increase 1% to 10% 11%

No change 5%

Decrease 2%

Don’t know/unsure 11%

0 20 40 60 80 100(Multiple responses permitted.)

Figure 15: Percentage of Enterprise Data Delivered Real-Time

None at this time 10%

<10% 35%

Between 10% to 25% 30%

Between 25% to 50% 9%

>50% 16%

0 20 40 60 80 100(Multiple responses permitted.)

(Defined as within one hour of creation)

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2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey was produced by Unisphere Research and sponsored by SAP. Unisphere Research is the market research unit of Unisphere Media, a division ofInformation Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters. To review abstracts of our past reports, visitwww.dbta.com/About_Us#Unisphere. Unisphere Media, 630 Central Avenue, Murray Hill, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3701, Web: www.dbta.com.

Figure 16: Big Data Programs’ Impact on Percentage of EnterpriseData Delivered Real-Time

Formal “big data” program 31%

No big data efforts 21%

0 20 40 60 80 100

(Respondents reporting more than 25% of data delivered real-time)

Figure 17: Real-Time Big Data Sites With More Than 25% of Data Real-Time—By Company Size

1 to 100 employees 29%

101 to 1,000 employees 32%

1,001 to 10,000 employees 18%

10,000+ employees 45%

0 20 40 60 80 100(Multiple responses permitted.)

Figure 18: Real-Time Big Data Sites With More Than 25% of Data Real-Time—By Industry

Financial services/insurance 33%

IT services/products 23%

Government/education 22%

Retail/services 18%

Manufacturing 14%

0 20 40 60 80 100(Multiple responses permitted.)

Page 16: 2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey

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2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey was produced by Unisphere Research and sponsored by SAP. Unisphere Research is the market research unit of Unisphere Media, a division ofInformation Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters. To review abstracts of our past reports, visitwww.dbta.com/About_Us#Unisphere. Unisphere Media, 630 Central Avenue, Murray Hill, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3701, Web: www.dbta.com.

Figure 19: Changes in Enterprise Unstructured Data Volume Over Next Three Years

Increase by more than 100% 13%

Increase 51% to 100% 17%

Increase 26% to 50% 20%

Increase 10% to 25% 26%

Increase 1% to 10% 10%

No change 4%

Decrease 0%

Don’t know/unsure 10%

0 20 40 60 80 100(Multiple responses permitted.)

(Defined as within one hour of creation)

Figure 20: Anticipated Changes in End-User Demand for EnterpriseReal-Time Data Over Next Three Years

Increase by more than 100% 16%

Increase 51% to 100% 17%

Increase 26% to 50% 23%

Increase 10% to 25% 20%

Increase 1% to 10% 10%

No change 6%

Decrease 0%

Don’t know/unsure 8%

0 20 40 60 80 100(Multiple responses permitted.)

(Defined as within one hour of creation)

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2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey was produced by Unisphere Research and sponsored by SAP. Unisphere Research is the market research unit of Unisphere Media, a division ofInformation Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters. To review abstracts of our past reports, visitwww.dbta.com/About_Us#Unisphere. Unisphere Media, 630 Central Avenue, Murray Hill, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3701, Web: www.dbta.com.

Figure 21: Users Demanding Access to More Data?

Yes 75%Don’t know/unsure 14%

No 12%

(Total does not equal 100% due to rounding.)

Figure 22: Importance of Big Data to Business

Extremely important 23%

(Total does not equal 100% due to rounding.)

Very important 35%

Somewhat important 27%

Not important today 14%

Figure 23: Big Data Programs’ Impact on Big Data Importanceto Business

Formal “big data” program 87%

No big data efforts 32%

0 20 40 60 80 100

(Respondents indicating big data is “extremely” or “very” important)

Page 18: 2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey

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2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey was produced by Unisphere Research and sponsored by SAP. Unisphere Research is the market research unit of Unisphere Media, a division ofInformation Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters. To review abstracts of our past reports, visitwww.dbta.com/About_Us#Unisphere. Unisphere Media, 630 Central Avenue, Murray Hill, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3701, Web: www.dbta.com.

Figure 24: Importance of Big Data to Business—By Company Size

1 to 100 employees 50%

101 to 1,000 employees 65%

1,001 to 10,000 employees 43%

10,000+ employees 35%

0 20 40 60 80 100(Multiple responses permitted.)

Figure 25: Importance of Big Data to Business—By Industry

Financial services/insurance 65%

IT services/products 65%

Retail/services 57%

Government/education 54%

Manufacturing 43%

0 20 40 60 80 100(Multiple responses permitted.)

(Respondents indicating big data is “extremely” or “very” important)

(Respondents indicating big data is “extremely” or “very” important)

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2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey was produced by Unisphere Research and sponsored by SAP. Unisphere Research is the market research unit of Unisphere Media, a division ofInformation Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters. To review abstracts of our past reports, visitwww.dbta.com/About_Us#Unisphere. Unisphere Media, 630 Central Avenue, Murray Hill, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3701, Web: www.dbta.com.

For many organizations, big data offers a range ofopportunities to improve and increase business. The mostpopular application cited is the ability to perform predictiveanalytics, cited by 62% of respondents. Another 53% say big dataoffers ways to better understand their customers. More than two-fifths are linking their big data efforts directly to business growth,employing big data tools and analysis to grow business revenuesstreams and compete more effectively in their markets. (SeeFigure 26.)

Big data is playing a role in many industries. “We are lookingat big data to help us provide better, safer patient care by learningfrom past episodes of care and outcomes,” says the manager of ahealthcare facility. “As more EMR/EHR systems come online, webelieve the medical community will demand access to big data.”

While most respondents believe their big data efforts will deliversignificant benefits, there are barriers for many as well. A largesegment, 43%, say the lack of budget holds them back, while 35%are also concerned with a lack of skills. About a third cite both datagovernance issues as well as lack of urgency from businessmanagement, two highly inter-related issues. The ability to helpbusiness users connect with the data that is available to them is animportant emerging role for data professionals. (See Figure 27.)

Top management support is essential, states a respondentwhose department has “the backing of the CEO and COO, tomove forward in business intelligence and big data initiatives, inorder to streamline and more accurately monitor and maintainour data flow.” This helps ensure that the agency’s “federal, state,and local regulatory requirements are met—as well protectingour grants, and funding streams,” the respondent explains.

Interestingly, when the organization addresses big dataopportunities through formal programs, they are far more likelyto be concerned with issues such as data governance, skills, andtechnology requirements. The presence of such programs pointsto management's sense that big data is a priority. (See Figure 28.)

While many respondents believe that their current technologyis capable of helping them manage and capitalize on big data,current solutions in place also are often in need of an overhaul.More than a third of respondents, 36%, say faster querying ofthe data is a challenge they are attempting to get their armsaround. Another 43% are concerned about providing fasteraccess to the larger datasets that may be proliferating aroundthem. (See Figure 29.)

What strategies are respondents’ organizations pursuing tomanage and capitalize on big data on an enterprise level? One-third indicate they are working to extend and optimize theircurrent infrastructure, while about one-fourth are adopting new frameworks such as Hadoop and in-memory databases.(See Figure 30.)

When it comes to leadership in big data initiatives, ITdepartments are taking the lead among a large segment ofrespondents, as cited by 42%. One-third say senior businessexecutives such as the CEO or CFO are taking charge of theeffort. (See Figure 31.)

What data management technologies do respondents’organizations currently use or plan to adopt within the next 24 months to manage the big data challenge? Two-thirds areemploying relational databases to meet the challenge. Close to half,47%, are employing business intelligence tools. (See Figure 32.)

As discussed in the previous section, skills availability is acritical challenge for organizations seeking to better manage orcapitalize on their big data assets. There are three ways to addressthis challenge—either automate more, train more, or recruitmore. For many respondents, automation and technology areconsidered the best paths. Close to four-fifths, 59%, say they planto equip staff with easy-to-use analytic tools. Close to half, 47%,intend to train business users with self-service businessintelligence tools. (See Figure 33.)

BIG DATA OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

Most executives intuitively understand the advantages big data can bring to their operations, especially with predictiveanalytics and customer analytics. However, organizational and skills issues may slow down their progress.

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2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey was produced by Unisphere Research and sponsored by SAP. Unisphere Research is the market research unit of Unisphere Media, a division ofInformation Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters. To review abstracts of our past reports, visitwww.dbta.com/About_Us#Unisphere. Unisphere Media, 630 Central Avenue, Murray Hill, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3701, Web: www.dbta.com.

Figure 26: Big Data Opportunities

Perform predictive analytics 62%

Better understand our customers 53%

Grow business revenue streams 42%

Compete more effectively 41%

Lower business operational costs 37%

Expose new economic value & opportunities 35%

Faster time to market new offerings 27%

Other 2%

0 20 40 60 80 100(Multiple responses permitted.)

Figure 27: Big Data Business Barriers

Lack of budget 43%

Lack of skills 35%

Data governance issues 31%

Not a business management priority 31%

Unsure of technology requirements 29%

Unsure of the value 32%

Other 3%

0 20 40 60 80 100(Multiple responses permitted.)

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2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey was produced by Unisphere Research and sponsored by SAP. Unisphere Research is the market research unit of Unisphere Media, a division ofInformation Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters. To review abstracts of our past reports, visitwww.dbta.com/About_Us#Unisphere. Unisphere Media, 630 Central Avenue, Murray Hill, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3701, Web: www.dbta.com.

Figure 28: Big Data Programs’ Impact on Big Data Business Barriers

Formal “big data” program No big data efforts

Lack of budget 41% 44%

Lack of skills 42% 27%

Data governance issues 45% 20%

Not a business management priority 17% 47%

Unsure of technology requirements 33% 22%

Unsure of the value 26% 39%

Figure 29: Current Solutions’ Technology Barriers

Faster querying of the data 51%

Faster access to large data volumes/sets 43%

Faster acquisition and storage of data 36%

Capacity to store more data 35%

Faster access to non-traditional data types 33%

Capacity to store non-traditional data types 33%

Cost of storage for larger or more varied 29%datasets

0 20 40 60 80 100(Multiple responses permitted.)

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2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey was produced by Unisphere Research and sponsored by SAP. Unisphere Research is the market research unit of Unisphere Media, a division ofInformation Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters. To review abstracts of our past reports, visitwww.dbta.com/About_Us#Unisphere. Unisphere Media, 630 Central Avenue, Murray Hill, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3701, Web: www.dbta.com.

Figure 30: Enterprise Big Data Strategies

Extend and optimize current infrastructure 33%

We don’t have an enterprise strategy for 26%big data at this time

Adopt new frameworks such as Hadoop 24%and in-memory databases

Establish a head of big data/analytics 22%strategy

Implement training and education in 22% big data and analytics

Purchase applications that address specific 15%big data opportunities

Establish a cross-enterprise committee/ 13% center of excellence

Don't know/unsure 22%

Other 1%

0 20 40 60 80 100(Multiple responses permitted.)

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2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey was produced by Unisphere Research and sponsored by SAP. Unisphere Research is the market research unit of Unisphere Media, a division ofInformation Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters. To review abstracts of our past reports, visitwww.dbta.com/About_Us#Unisphere. Unisphere Media, 630 Central Avenue, Murray Hill, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3701, Web: www.dbta.com.

Figure 31: Big Data Corporate Leaders

IT department 42%

Senior business management (CEO, CFO) 33%

Line-of-business 22%

No one is in charge at this time 21%

Cross-enterprise committee/center 11%of excellence

Don't know/unsure 13%

0 20 40 60 80 100(Multiple responses permitted.)

Figure 32: Big Data Technologies Adopted or To Be Adopted in Next 24 Months

Relational databases (e.g., Oracle, DB2, etc.) 64%

Business intelligence tools 47%

Hadoop/MapReduce 28%

In-memory platforms 21%

Other Open Source technologies 20%

NoSQL databases 20%

R 12%

Don’t know/unsure 17%

Other 4%

0 20 40 60 80 100(Multiple responses permitted.)

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2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey was produced by Unisphere Research and sponsored by SAP. Unisphere Research is the market research unit of Unisphere Media, a division ofInformation Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters. To review abstracts of our past reports, visitwww.dbta.com/About_Us#Unisphere. Unisphere Media, 630 Central Avenue, Murray Hill, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3701, Web: www.dbta.com.

Figure 33: How Skills Base Will Be Expanded Over Next 12 Months

Equip staff with easy-to-use analytic tools 59%

Train business users with self-service 47%BI tools

Train BI analysts in data mining 43%

Hire data scientists 19%

0 20 40 60 80 100(Multiple responses permitted.)

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2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey was produced by Unisphere Research and sponsored by SAP. Unisphere Research is the market research unit of Unisphere Media, a division ofInformation Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters. To review abstracts of our past reports, visitwww.dbta.com/About_Us#Unisphere. Unisphere Media, 630 Central Avenue, Murray Hill, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3701, Web: www.dbta.com.

DEMOGRAPHICS

Figure 34: Primary Job Titles

Database administrator (DBA) 17%

Data architect 13%

IT consultant 11%

Programmer/developer 9%

Director/manager of IS/IT or 9%computer-related function

Analyst/systems analyst 8%

Project manager 7%

Chief information officer/chief technology 6%officer/VP of IT

Systems administrator 5%

Executive management level for the business 5%

Manager of a business unit 3%

Other 7%

0 20 40 60 80 100(Multiple responses permitted.)

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2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey was produced by Unisphere Research and sponsored by SAP. Unisphere Research is the market research unit of Unisphere Media, a division ofInformation Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters. To review abstracts of our past reports, visitwww.dbta.com/About_Us#Unisphere. Unisphere Media, 630 Central Avenue, Murray Hill, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3701, Web: www.dbta.com.

Figure 35: Number of Employees

1 to 100 employees 27%

101 to 500 employees 14%

501 to 1,000 employees 8%

1,001 to 5,000 employees 12%

5,001 to 10,000 employees 10%

10,000+ employees 26%

Don’t know/unsure 2%

0 20 40 60 80 100

(Include all locations, branches, and subsidiaries)

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2013 Big Data Opportunities Survey was produced by Unisphere Research and sponsored by SAP. Unisphere Research is the market research unit of Unisphere Media, a division ofInformation Today, Inc., publishers of Database Trends and Applications magazine and the 5 Minute Briefing newsletters. To review abstracts of our past reports, visitwww.dbta.com/About_Us#Unisphere. Unisphere Media, 630 Central Avenue, Murray Hill, New Providence, NJ 07974; 908-795-3701, Web: www.dbta.com.

Figure 36: Primary Industries

IT services/consulting/system integration 17%

Government (all levels) 12%

Financial services 10%

Software/application development 10%

Business or consumer services 6%

Education (all levels) 6%

Manufacturing 6%

Retail/distribution 6%

Healthcare/medical 6%

Utility/telecommunications/transportation 5%

Insurance 3%

High-tech manufacturing 2%

Other 10%

0 20 40 60 80 1000 20 40 60 80 100(Multiple responses permitted.)


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