It comes with no surprise that its first documented use was made by NASA in 1997 – and its numerous applications are just beginning to transpire. These applications are seemingly endless and its benefits to both society and commerce unsurmountable. Its influence will be felt across all industries.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch believes it will have “dramatic ramifications for business and markets” and will propel a new wave of productivity growth as its “untapped potential is huge.”
This world-wide disruptor is known as, BIG DATA, and in the words of Shark Tank Billionaire, Mark Cuban, “data is the new gold.”
Big Data adoption in enterprises is beginning to soar from 17% in 2015 to 59% in 2018, reaching a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 36%. This data displays a strong upward trend toward mainstream adoption.[Source].
As adoption skyrockets, big data investments continue to gain momentum around the globe. Research has estimated that in 2015 the market for big data was USD$23.5 billion and is expected to reach USD$118.5 billion by 2022.[Source].
Data continues to grow at an unprecedented rate. Anne Toth, Head of Data Policy at the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, has identified that, “Every single type of technology is underpinned by data. That technology is either throwing off more data than ever before or ingesting more data than ever before. There are predictions that by 2020 there will be 50 billion devices connected to the internet of things (IoT) – So when you just think of the sheer volume of data generated…. it really is beyond the realm of comprehension.”[Source].
Big data’s role cannot be underestimated as it has the ability to enhance the potential of artificial intelligence (AI). When AI is complimented with big data, it gains a better understanding of its functions – providing superior results. A 2018 study conducted by New Vantage Partners, suggests that 91.6% of Fortune 1000 companies are increasing investment in big data and artificial intelligence in order to “accelerate business transformation.”[Source]
Given data’s size, robust growth and its corresponding need for the internet of things and artificial intelligence. There is undoubtedly an immense market for big data firms to process this exponential volume of data. In a world driven by data, it is imperative for companies to begin to utilize big data analytics to remain competitive. Those who fail to embrace it may become obsolete, those who adopt it will define the future. The world will only continue to become more reliant on big data, which is why this industry represents one of the biggest investment opportunities of our lifetime.
In line with big data – Cloud Computing is also changing the business world at a rapid pace. In the past, businesses would need to invest its own time and resources to develop an on-premises IT infrastructure, which can be very costly. However, cloud computing provides computing over the internet which are composed of highly optimized virtual data centres. Organizations are then able to connect to the cloud and use these resources on a need to use basis – saving companies money.
It is expected that five industry groups, including: healthcare, public sector, finance, retail & wholesale and the manufacturing sector are expected to spend a total of $37.5 billion on industry cloud solutions in 2018. [Source]. With the worldwide public cloud services market expected to reach USD$206.2 billion in 2019, up 17.3% from 175.8 billion in 2018. [Source].
Taking a look at Amazon’s revenue and operating profit, in Q2, 2018, Amazon Web Services accounted for 55% of the company’s operating profit, despite only contributing 12% to the company’s net sales. [Source]. Evidently, this portrays how profitable the industry can be and only more businesses are beginning to rely on cloud computing every day.
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