IDC Publishes New Big Data Study

FRAMINGHAM, Mass., Sept. 15 — In a newly published study, International Data Corporation (IDC) forecasts that the Big Data technology and services market will grow at a 26.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to $41.5 billion through 2018, or about six times the growth rate of the overall information technology market. Although IDC believes that Big Data will continue to represent a fast-growing multibillion-dollar worldwide opportunity for the next five years, overall growth of the individual segments that make up this market are starting to show signs of a slowdown.

“The hype surrounding Big Data appears to be tempering down,” said Ashish Nadkarni, Research Director, Storage Systems and Big Data research at IDC. “This is a sign that the technologies are maturing and making their way into the fabric of how organizations operate and firms conduct their business.”

Additional findings from IDC’s forecast include the following:

• Infrastructure will continue to command a large share of the market with 48.2% share in 2014.
• Although the Americas region is expected to continue leading the way in Big Data investments, the rest of the world is catching up. EMEA and Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) commanded nearly 45% market share in the infrastructure, software, and services segments of the Big Data market.
• IDC expects incumbent suppliers to eventually go on an acquisition spree in the Big Data market.

“Big Data will continue to transform businesses everywhere, making them ‘Big Data driven’ in the process. In the context of the broader ICT market, and even the overall business analytics market, the Big Data market is quickly moving from a state of nascence to a state of maturity,” said Dan Vesset, Program VP, Business Analytics & Big Data.

The IDC study, Worldwide Big Data Technology and Services 2014-2018 Forecast (IDC #250458), examines the Big Data technology and services market for 2013–2018 and describes IDC’s definition of Big Data and the criteria and methodology for sizing the market.