To get the most business value from data, you need to keep up with the latest tech trends – or do you? View this webinar on-demand as we share the results from our 2019 Data Trends Survey! We'll reveal what organizations around the world are really up to at the intersection of technology, big data and business. Key topics include: • Business initiatives getting the most IT support in 2019 • Highest-priority IT initiatives • Tech adoption rates, benefits and challenges

1. Data Trends for 2019:
Extracting Value from Data
Jennifer Cheplick
Sr. Director, Product Marketing

2. Introducing
Syncsort
>7,000 customers
84 of the Fortune 100
Customers in >100 countries
Headquarters: Pearl River, NY
U . S . L O C AT I O N S
• Burlington, MA; Irvine, CA;
Oakbrook Terrace, IL; Rochester, MN
G L O B A L P R E S E N C E
• U.K., France, Germany, Netherlands,
Israel, Hong Kong & Japan
Big Iron to Big Data is a fast-growing
market segment composed of solutions
that optimize traditional data systems
and deliver mission-critical data from
these systems to next-generation
analytic environments.
2
Global leader in
Big Iron to Big Data

3. 3
Advancing data
Cloud IoT & Streaming AI & Data Science Data Governance
Mainframes and IBM i
run the core transactional
apps of most enterprises
Mobile & online increasing
transaction volumes and
workload unpredictability
Enterprises making major
investments in Big Data
platforms for new insights
MUST solve
for the present
& prepare for
the future
Optimized access to legacy data reserves is required to achieve the benefits of new tech innovations!
Control costs
& improve
performance of
legacy systems
to help fund new
technology
investments
Increase security
& governance of
legacy data
systems to
prepare to take
advantage of
new innovations
Combine
legacy systems
with new data
sources to
power unique
business
insights

4. 4
Respondent Profile
230 professionals completed the survey.
30% of respondents were IT Managers.
21% were IT/Data Architects.
55% of respondents worked in an organization
with more than 1,000 employees.
84% had more than 100.

5. Top Priorities

6. • Two of the top three business initiatives
supported by IT are focused on internal
improvements:
• 48% of respondents indicated that
Increased operational and/or workforce
efficiency was a top initiative that their
organization will support using IT
• 42% chose Cost reduction
• Improved customer experience was the
second-highest business initiative, cited by
46% of respondents
6
Top Business Initiatives Supported by IT
Note that this was a select all that apply question so responses will not
total to 100%.
48% Increased operational and/or workforce efficiency
46% Improved customer experience
42% Cost reduction
38% Improved access to data for decision-making
26% Risk management
25% Creation of new products or services
24% Regulatory compliance
13% Marketing and sales
3% I don’t know
4% Other (please specify)
What are the top 3 business initiatives your organization
will support using IT in the next 12 months?

7. 46% of respondents indicated that
Cloud/Hybrid computing was an IT
initiative for the next 12 months.
38% selected Infrastructure Modernization
and 32% Data Governance.
7
Cloud Computing is Top IT Initiative
Note that this was a select all that apply question so
responses will not total to 100%.
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
Which are your company’s highest-priority IT initiatives for the next
12 months? (Select your top 3.)

8. Over one-quarter of respondents indicated
that the technology that provided the biggest
benefit for their business was Infrastructure
Modernization(26%).
21% indicated that Cloud/Hybrid computing
provided the biggest benefit.
8
Modernization and Cloud Deliver Biggest
Business Benefits
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
Of the previous technologies you have adopted, which one has
provided the biggest benefits for your business?

9. For Infrastructure Modernization
the two biggest benefits were
• Increased operational/workforce
efficiency (34%)
• Reduced costs (24%)
For Cloud/Hybrid Computing,
respondents noted
• Reduced costs (35%)
• Increased operational/workforce
efficiency (29%).
9
Modernization & Cloud Drive Efficiency &
Cost Benefits
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
Benefit By Technology
Cloud/Hybrid computing Modernize legacy systems
Reduced costs
Higher revenue
Competitive advantage
Easier to comply with regulations
Reduced risk
Support business decision-making with greater
access to data across the organization
Increased operational/workforce efficiency
I don’t know
Other

10. Technology
Adoption

11. 11
Technology Adoption Maturity
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
With regard to the following IT initiatives/technologies, what phase is your company in?
Early Adoption (<2 Years) In Production (2 - 5 Years) Mature Adoption (5+ Years)
Cloud, Data
Governance and Data
Profiling & Quality
have highest overall
adoption

12. 12
Technology Research/Evaluation
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Research/Evaluation (Not Yet Adopted)
Top 3 Technologies under
Evaluation:
• Blockchain (34%)
• IoT (32%)
• AI (30%)
With regard to the following IT
initiatives/technologies, what phase
is your company in?

13. Data Lakes

14. 14
Analytics Use Cases
Drive Data Lakes and
Enterprise Data Hubs
Note that this was a select all that apply question so responses
will not total to 100%.
50% Advanced/Predictive Analytics
42% Real-time analytics
41% Operational Analytics
39% Data Discovery and Visualization
21% ETL
21% Enterprise Data Marketplace (internal Data as a Service)
18% Offload data and/or workloads from legacy systems,
such as EDW, Mainframe or IBM i
15% Active Archive
9% IoT
If you have a data lake or enterprise data hub, or
are building one, what use cases interest you
most? (Select all that apply.)
26% Machine Learning/AI

15. Legacy data sources fill the Data Lake:
• Enterprise Data Warehouse (52%)
• RDBMS (37%)
• Mainframes or IBM i systems (34%)
15
Data Used to Populate Repositories
Note: Only respondents who previously indicated that they have
a data lake or enterprise data hub—
or are building one, were asked this question.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
You noted you have a data lake or enterprise data hub--or are
building one. What data are you using to populate these
repositories? (Select all that apply.)

16. Challenges

17. The most frequently reported IT-related
challenge was Skills/staff shortage (38%).
Responses were relatively evenly split
with five of them receiving 30% or more:
• Data Governance (33%)
• User access to data (33%)
• Keeping data up to date, in sync (30%)
• Budget constraints (30%)
17
Top 5 IT Challenges
38% Skills/staff shortage
33% Data governance
33% Making data more accessible to users across the enterprise
30%
Keeping data up-to-date and in sync across multiple
databases, operating systems and platforms
19% Accessing and processing data in real-time
19% Poor data quality/lack of trust in the data
17% Ability to scale to process massive data volumes
17% Leveraging data from legacy systems (from Mainframes, EDW’s, IBM i, etc.)
with modern analytics platforms (Spark, Hadoop, Cloud, etc.)
17% Rapid changes in technology, frameworks and tools
What are the top IT-related challenges facing your company this year? (Select up to 3.)
30% Budget constraints
10% Quickly showing the value of IT investments
4% I don’t know

18. Only 9% of respondents reported that their
organization is very effective in getting value
from the data generated.
Nearly half the respondents (48%) reported
that their organization is somewhat effective.
18
Effectiveness in Getting Value From Data
2%
Ineffective
How effective do you think your company is in getting value from the
data it generates/collects across the enterprise?
13%
Somewhat
Ineffective
28%
Neutral
9%
Very Effective
48%
Somewhat
Effective

19. More than two-thirds (68%)
indicated that siloed data
negatively impacts their
organization somewhat or to a
great extent.
19
Impact of Siloed Data
15%
To a great extent
To what degree does siloed data (data contained in disparate systems)
negatively impact your organization’s ability to get value from the data
it generates/collects across the enterprise?
53%
Somewhat
20%
Very little
9%
We don’t have
siloed data in
disparate systems
3%
Not at all

20. Only 50% of respondents believe
their company is effective in
getting data insights to users.
20
Effectiveness In Getting Data Insights to Users
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
Ineffective Somewhat Ineffective Neutral Somewhat Effective Very Effective
How effective is your company in getting data insights to
business users outside of the IT department?

21. Lack of Skills, Tools and Time
cited impede getting insights
to users.
21
Why Enterprises Are Ineffective Getting
Insights to Users
53% Lack of IT skills/staff to work on this
50% Lack of technology/tools to feed downstream
applications with the right data at the right time
44% Lack of time (to sort through the data)
31% Insufficient investments in analytics platforms
22% Senior leadership doesn’t see it as a priority
3% I don’t know
6% Other (please specify)
If you answered “ineffective” or “somewhat ineffective” to the
previous question, why?

22. Key Takeaways

23. • Lack of IT skills/staffing recurred as a theme in the survey
• Respondents mentioned it as their top IT challenge. Those who perceived their companies
were ineffective or somewhat ineffective in getting data to business users cited lack of IT
skill/staff as the chief culprit.
• The survey revealed that professionals are grappling with delivering data to
business users
• A substantial majority noted that siloed data impacts their organizations. Making data
accessible to users across the enterprise was among the top 3 IT challenges respondents cited.
• Interestingly, many corporations are still modernizing legacy systems
• Chosen as the second highest priority IT initiative in the next 12 months--and as the technology
that yielded the biggest benefits for their businesses.
• Technology adoption
• Blockchain, IoT, and AI are primarily in nascent stages of research/evaluation. These
technologies are comparatively new; therefore, some organizations are determining how to
operationalize them, establish governance, measure business value, and address risks.
23
Key Takeaways

24. Learn more at syncsort.com