Big data is the buzzword around the world for a few years now, and is backed my robust numbers, including $46 billion revenues for vendors of related products and services in 2016. However, the era of big data is just beginning to dawn, with the real growth yet to come.

A recent report from SNS Research, predicts that by 2020, businesses will spend over $72 billion on big data hardware, software, & professional services. While revenue is presently dominated by hardware sales and professional services, it is poised to change: By 2020, software revenue will exceed hardware investments by over than $7 billion, the researcher predicts.

“Despite challenges relating to privacy concerns & organizational resistance, big data investments continue to gain momentum all over the world,” the company said.

“Sooner rather than later, big data will become table stakes for enterprises,” said Tony Baer, principal analyst at Ovum. “It will not provide unique competitive edge to innovators, but will add a new baseline to the analytics & decision support that enterprises must incorporate into their decision-making processes.”

It’s indeed early days for such initiatives, said Frank Scavo, president of Computer Economics.

“Business intelligence & data warehousing are top areas for technology spending this year, but only about one-quarter of organizations are including big data in their investment plans,” said Scavo, citing his own company’s research. “So, what we are seeing today is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Cloud storage & services are making big data affordable for most organizations, but realizing the benefits can be a challenge. That’s in large part due to the current shortage of business analysts and IT professionals with the right skills, particularly data scientists, he said.

“If you’re planning to invest in big data, you’d better be ready to invest in your people to develop the needed skills,” Scavo said. “At the same time, if you’re an IT professional just starting out in your career, big data would be a great area to focus on.”

Author: Katherine Noyes                Source: Info World

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