The ongoing digital transformation of business is all about big data. It’s been said that data is the new oil; it needs to be refined and distilled to extract its true value so that businesses can take advantage of it. However, for many companies, getting on the big data bandwagon is not a question of technology, it’s a struggle of two very different ways of thinking, according to Christoph Streubert (pictured), senior director of big data strategy and go-to-market at SAP SE.

“It’s not just technology that’s coming together; it’s mindsets that are coming together,” he said, explaining that in many organizations there is usually one side of the business that is very change-control oriented and risk-control aware, and then there’s the other side made up of progressive, innovative, fast adopters.

Streubert believes bringing those two camps together in harmony is the challenge of big data, not necessarily the technology, he told John Furrier (@furrier) and Dave Vellante (@dvellante), co-hosts of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile live streaming studio, during the DataWorks Summit in Munich, Germany. (Disclosure below.)

During the interview, Streubert talked about big data’s industry repercussions, as well as SAP’s investments in the future.

Betting on the future of big data and IoT

SAP is continually investing in big business ventures, including SAP.oi, where it supports startups to help drive innovation faster. In the field of Internet of Things, Project Leonardo is where SAP is investing in creative solutions, Streubert explained. For example, SAP recently purchased a company that manages sensor collections, creating service-level agreements for robotics on the manufacturing floor.

More than just monitoring the machines, the sensors automatically trigger when a machine needs replacement parts; it’s automating a task that used to need human intervention, he added.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of DataWorks Summit 2017 EU. (*Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner at DataWorks. The conference sponsor, Hortonworks, does not have editorial oversight of content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE