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Big Data and Business Analytics Upside Opportunity

According to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), revenues for big data and business analytics will grow from nearly $122 billion in 2015 to more than $187 billion in 2019 -- that's an increase of more than 50 percent over the five-year forecast period.

The consulting services-related opportunity will account for more than half of all big data and business analytics revenue for most of the forecast period, with IT Services generating more than three times the annual revenues of Business Services.

Software will be the second largest category, generating more than $55 billion in revenues in 2019. Nearly half of these revenues will come from purchases of End-User Query, Reporting, and Analysis Tools and Data Warehouse Management Tools. Moreover, hardware spending will grow to nearly $28 billion in 2019.

Big Data Analytics Market Development

The industries that present the largest revenue opportunities are Discrete Manufacturing ($22.8 billion in 2019), Banking ($22.1 billion), and Process Manufacturing ($16.4 billion). Four other industries -- Federal or Central Government, Professional Services, Telecommunications, and Retail -- will generate revenues of more than $10 billion in 2019.

The industries experiencing the fastest revenue growth will be Utilities, Resource Industries, Healthcare, and Banking, although nearly all of the industries profiled in the new Spending Guide will see gains of more than 50 percent over the five year forecast period.

Large and very large companies will be the primary driver of the big data and business analytics opportunity, generating revenues of more than $140 billion in 2019. However, small and medium businesses (SMBs) will remain a significant contributor with nearly a quarter of the worldwide revenues coming from companies with fewer than 500 employees.

"Organizations able to take advantage of the new generation of business analytics solutions can leverage digital transformation to adapt to disruptive changes and to create competitive differentiation in their markets," said Dan Vesset, group vice president at IDC.

IDC believes that these organizations don't just automate existing processes -- they treat data and information as they would any valued asset by using a focused approach to extracting and developing the value and utility of information.

Data-Driven Business Buyer Motivation

According to the IDC assessment, big data and analytics can have a considerable impact on just about every industry. It will improve margins and performance, while simultaneously enhancing responsiveness and delighting customers and prospects. Forward-thinking organizations turn to this emerging technology for better and faster data-driven decisions.

From a geographic perspective, more than half of all big data and business analytics revenues will come from the United States. By 2019, IDC forecasts that the U.S. market for big data and business analytics solutions will reach more than $98 billion.

The second largest geographic region will be Western Europe, followed by Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) and Latin America. The two regions with the fastest growth over the five year forecast period will be Latin America and the Middle East and Africa.

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