Digital data explosion highlights need for new-age DB and BI technologies

It’s borderline alarming. But most definitely fascinating.

The growth of digital data worldwide is accelerating at an unprecedented, virtually incomprehensible rate.

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A new study estimates that the current global storage capacity for digital information totals around 295 exabytes – an exabyte equals one billion gigabytes. Picture a stack of CD-ROMs reaching from the floor beneath your desk to 80,000 kilometers beyond the moon.

The study, conducted by University of Southern California researchers Martin Hilbert and Priscilla Lopez was published in Science Express on February 10 this year, and documents the rise of global digital data between 1986 and 2007.

The shift has been astounding. In 1986, 14 percent of earth’s data was stored on vinyl records. In 2000, 25 percent of all information was in digital media form; and by 2007 (the last year of Hilbert’s and Lopez’s study), 94 percent of all information storage capacity was digital, totaling 276 exabytes.

The growth of Business Intelligence and information management solutions

According to the study, computing storage capacity is growing at around 58 percent per year. The ability for enterprises to capture, collate and analyze organizational data is becoming simultaneously more important and difficult to manage.

Therefore, as posited in last week’s blog – Shrewd data management key to effective Business Intelligence – efficient data management is becoming increasingly crucial to ensure optimum performance from any Business Intelligence (BI) solution.

In light of these trends, a new survey by Australian-based Atlis Consulting, revealing that investment in business analytics and data mining will substantially increase in 2011, comes as no surprise.

Conclusion: New generation business analytics solutions vital

The demand for new-generation business analytics solutions – comprising agile BI and analytical database technology that have the capacity to quickly, effectively and efficiently produce actionable intelligence from ‘big data’ – is set to skyrocket.