SAP urges VARs to cash in on $220bn big data opportunity

Vendor claims its analytics tech will bring EMEA partners alone $70bn in five years' time

SAP has claimed that in just five years' time, its global partner base will earn some $220bn (£144.62bn) by selling its big data and analytics products and services.

The software giant claims the opportunity is there for all its partners which resell its products or provide professional services, hardware and intellectual property developed on top of its analytics solutions.

The firm teamed up with IDC to conduct its Worldwide Ecosystem Analytics and Big Data: Growth Opportunities for SAP Partners report. It showed that in EMEA, the partner opportunity around big data and analytics will reach $70bn by 2018, while in the Asia-Pacific and Japan and North America regions, it will climb to $40bn and $102bn respectively.

The pair claims the size of the digital universe will grow 30,669 per cent – from 130 exabytes to 40,000 exabytes – between 2005 and 2020, meaning opportunity for partners to cash in on analytics is rife.

Of those IDC surveyed as part of the research, 68 per cent of companies said they did not have a business intelligence or analytics strategy, while 63 per cent did not even know what big data was. Some 69 per cent of respondents said they are looking for staff skilled in analytics in the coming 12 months.

IDC added that between this year and 2020, 90 per cent of IT industry growth will come through third-platform technology – that based on cloud, mobile and social – a figure which today stands at just 22 per cent.

The research showed the main verticals set to invest in big data and analytics technology are manufacturing, government, media, banking and professional services.