Tonight on theCUBE, from the SiliconANGLE Media team, Peter Burris (@plburris), chief research officer of SiliconANGLE Media, revealed some of Wikibon’s key findings on the Big Data industry. The newly released findings from Wikibon’s 4th annual Big Data Market Forecast predict that the Big Data market will hit $92.2B by 2026.

So in keeping with the mood of theCUBE’s BigDataSV 2016 event in San Jose, California, where it’s celebrating #BigDataWeek, including news and events from the #StrataHadoop conference, Burris presented “Wikibon’s Big Digital Vision: How Big Data Turns Into Digital Business.”

It all starts with the data

Burris outlined his presentation agenda with three facts. One, it all starts with data. The grand vision of digital business cannot be pursued at all unless we understand the evolving role of data and information in business. Two, the set of technologies and tools are going to be most important in realizing this vision. And three, there has been a lot of investment, and Wikibon’s intensive research as to where the market is and where the market is going shows the upward climb in investments into Big Data.

The presentation was light on technology and heavy on forecasting. Burris pointed to Apple as being distinguished by information. He stated that it is necessary to start thinking of data as digital capital. He considers that most of the business information is not digitized and that there is a need to translate more of our business into information.

Unknown unknowns

Burris used former Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld’s quote to point to where Big Data is right now. “There are known-knowns. These things we know that we know. There are known-unknowns. That is to say that there are things we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown-unknowns. These are the things we know we don’t know.”

Using the Rumsfeld Model of Analytics, he quadranted off four sections: Business Intelligence, unknown-known; Big Data, unknown-unknown; Reporting, known-known; and what he called MBA or managing by astrology, known-unknown.

This exercise was to make the point that we should be establishing the clear priorities for business.

Big Data universe

“The process of turning Big Data into digital shows up on the vector of innovation within the Big Data universe,” Burris said. And he pointed out that the analysts at Wikibon see three stages of change turning Big Data into digital business. These phases are the driving sign of growth. The first phase is to utilize technology to apply the tools. The second phase is applying technology to solve problems. And once that is done, the third phase is tying it all into business operations.

Big Data revenue projections

The big picture Burris said is not to rip and replace, but to refine and add to new approaches. Wikibon estimates that between 2020 and 2021, services will be eclipsed by software. According to Burris, the model for developers in the space is not yet obvious and  there is a need to present targets for developers to attach with common tool sets.

Is this a winner take all market?

“Today’s leaders don’t necessarily end up being tomorrow’s winners,” stated Burris. He indicated there is enormous opportunity for a wide array of players and that today’s customers will find ways to become tomorrow’s suppliers.

Watch the full interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of BigDataSV 2016. And make sure to weigh in during theCUBE’s live coverage at the event by joining in on CrowdChat.

Photo by SiliconANGLE