• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, August 12, 2022

The world is moving beyond Big Data.

By 2025, total data volume will exceed 200 zettabytes, or 200 billion terabytes, “more than 11.4 billion years of HD cat videos, according to The Rise Of Hyperscale, a study by Ocient. 

And brands must conduct “continuous, complex analysis” on those data sets to drive new products and services and bolster customer satisfaction.

Of the technology experts polled, 78% agree that faster analytics are tied to revenue growth.

Moreover, 64% are using insights from hyperscale datasets to make business decisions, and 62% say these are essential to planning and company strategy. 

It's not that they have much time: 97% expect their data to grow fast or very fast in the next 1-5 years.

And 98% agree that they must increase the amount of data they can analyze in 1-3 years. 

But they face several challenges, including these top three:

• Maintaining security and compliance as data volume and needs grow — 63%
• Scaling data management and analysis in a cost-effective manner — 49%
• Streamlining the number of systems and ecosystems under management — 48%

Staffing is another problem: 65% are concerned or very much so about their ability to hire experienced and specialized talent. The three most sought-after roles are: 

• Chief Data Officer — 64%
• Data Analyst — 60% 
• Data Scientist — 41%

Meanwhile, 59% are now seeking to switch data warehouse providers. 

Why? The  top three issues are: 

• The technology is legacy and I’m looking to modernize — 40%
• The system(s) isn’t/aren’t comprehensive enough to meet my needs — 42%
• Not flexible enough — 36%

To hear these respondents tell it, the legacy systems they most hope to replace are:

• IBM Db2 — 61%
• Cloudera — 49% 
• Teradata — 41%

Here are the features they seek in new technology: 

• Improved speed and performance — 57%
• Flexibility and agility — 55%
• Improved access and integration — 54%

Ocient partnered with Propeller Insights to survey 500 high-level technology leaders who manage workloade of 150 terabytes or greater in May 2022. Roughly half represent companies with annual revenue of $500 million or higher.