A lack of big data know-how has created a backlog that gives way to a flood of demands for business intelligence (BI), a report has predicted. As a result, data center managers could be swamped by requests for resources in the near future, it warned. 

According to Gartner Research’s report Market Share Analysis: Business Intelligence and Analytics Software, 2013, the world market for BI and analytics software is being slowed by a lack of confidence in how to use it. The market for BI systems - defined as being BI platforms, corporate performance management suites, analytic applications and advanced analytics - was measured at US$14.4bn in 2013. This is an 8% increase on revenue for 2012, which totaled $13.3bn in sales, according to Gartner. 

But these relatively slow growth figures mask a massive latent demand, says Gartner, which has predicted a dramatic lurch forward is about to take place. “The market is shifting gears,” said Dan Sommer, research director at Gartner, “[and] we’re at the cusp of a series of tipping points which will create unprecedented interest and adoption of analytics.” 

The report notes that no region in the world grew faster than 12%. This, says Gartner, breaks the strategic assumption that many of the large vendors have held for years - that emerging markets are growing at a much faster rate. 

Demand is being suppressed because ‘confusion still reigns about the best use of analytics on big data’, says the report. To date most investment has happened outside traditional BI, in experimental silos, infrastructure and services.

With growth in IT-budgets flat and IT-led traditional intelligence tools being over-bought, new BI is doubly constrained. As a result, some market leaders targeting those constituents showed slow growth, according to Gartner’s analysis. 

Gartner’s managing VP Milind Govekar warned that it will be crucial for data center infrastructure and operations managers to take ownership of these new projects as they materialize in enterprises. “They need to become the trusted partners or service brokers to advise the business where the production services should be sourced from,” said Govekar, “that means traditional data centers or cloud or outsourced to a third party.” 

Those who cannot engage with the business in the early stages will be completely bypassed, he warned.