Sector RoadMap: data discovery in 2014

1. Summary

In the contemporary analytics market, business users want streamlined applications that allow them to query and visualize data, with incremental sophistication, until that data is truly understood. Such products, known as data-discovery tools, are the focus of this Sector RoadMap^TM.

Our analysis identifies six Disruption Vectors that companies can drive or harness to gain revenue and market share. Tech buyers can also use the Disruption Vector analysis to aid them in picking products that best suit their own situation.

Key findings in our analysis include:

• Self-service will be the most powerful market force for the next 12 to 24 months, with mobile
  support almost as critical. Data blending and connectivity to non-relational databases are also important vectors. Cloud offerings and data-storytelling capabilities play less-critical roles.
• Mobile-device support is a competitive necessity. Native viewing apps for mobile platforms are acceptable (some would even say better), but an HTML5-based authoring tool with full functionality for tablets defines the state of the art.
• Most products still have a distance to travel when it comes to cloud offerings. While cloud BI continues to go mainstream, providers exclusive to that space rarely focus on data discovery.
• Connectivity to CRM data is prevalent among data-discovery products. So while analytics is applicable in almost every part of business, it is sales automation and revenue forecasting that drive a lot of activity, especially in the self-service space.

Currently Datameer and Tableau are the best-positioned data-discovery suppliers. Splunk, MicroStrategy, and SiSense are also strong, and Roambi is on the radar.

Key:

• Number indicates company’s relative strength across all vectors
• Size of ball indicates company’s relative strength along individual vector

Source: Gigaom Research