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BARC Study: The Data Management Survey 23 Shows High Satisfaction With Tools

BARC publishes The Data Management Survey 23, the world’s largest fact-based analysis of the market for data management software. 1,236 respondents provided detailed information on their use of software from 16 different vendors, including products from software giants such as Microsoft, Oracle and SAP, as well as tools from much smaller vendors that are less well known but in many cases provide excellent value to customers.

Meaningful comparisons of competing products

Unlike many analyst reports, The Data Management Survey 23 is not based on anecdotal reports or personal opinions, nor is it intended as a measure of market share. Instead, it is about analyzing market trends and making meaningful comparisons of competing products based on a variety of critical software and vendor-related criteria. The study also provides a detailed quantitative analysis of why customers buy data management tools, what they are used for, what problems they have with the tools, and how successful their deployments are.

BARC Study: The Data Management Survey 23 Shows High Satisfaction With Tools
Satisfaction with the use of data management tools (n=960) © BARC 2022

General findings

The majority of users report being “very satisfied” (38%) or “fairly satisfied” (47%) with their data management tools, confirming their added value. One in three organizations also report having no significant problems using the tools, and in general, problems are at a very low level. In fact, 39% of respondents say they would “definitely” recommend their solutions to others, and another 45% would “probably” do so.

Timm Grosser, senior analyst at BARC and co-author of the study, said: “Data management tools can help to increase flexibility in data usage and get a grip on the complexity of highly distributed data landscapes. The survey results show that most companies have recognized the added value of such tools and are using them in a beneficial way for their business.”

BARC Study: The Data Management Survey 23 Shows High Satisfaction With Tools
Which data analytics trends have the strongest impact on data management investments? (n=1,001) © BARC 2022

Companies use their tools for traditional BI tasks

Looking at the tasks implemented with data management tools, there is a clear focus on business intelligence tasks. Data warehousing/BI is performed by 71% of survey respondents and data integration by 54%. The use of advanced analytics and newer concepts such as data virtualization is relatively limited.

38% of respondents say they are doing data preparation. This is notable because no specialized data preparation tools are featured in this survey. ‘Data preparation’ is defined as an iterative process that helps business users prepare data sets for exploratory analysis. Most of the tools presented in this survey are designed for technical users and provide limited interfaces for business users.

However, looking at the use of this term in the broader market, a second definition emerges: it is also used to describe ETL processes. This explains the widespread use of technical tools for data preparation.

About the survey

The Data Management Survey 23 is an independent survey on the topic of data management in the context of BI, analytics and data strategy, in which participants can evaluate the tool they use.

The survey, conducted this year for the fourth time by BARC, examines data management products (e.g., data pipelining tools, data governance tools, data virtualization tools, data warehouses, analytic data engines, etc.) in terms of their features, application areas and usability.

The survey is conducted and published independently by BARC without third-party involvement. Business and technical users, as well as software vendors and consulting firms are invited to participate.

For more information, visit barc.com/research/the-data-management-survey/

About BARC

BARC is a leading analyst firm for data & analytics and enterprise software with a reputation for unbiased and trusted advice. Our expert analysts deliver a wide range of research, events and advisory services for the data & analytics community. Our innovative research evaluates software and vendors rigorously and highlights market trends, delivering insights that enable our customers to innovate with data, analytics and AI. BARC’s 25 years of experience with data strategy & culture, data architecture, organization and software selection help clients transform into truly data-driven organizations.

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Axel Bange

Axel Bange

+49 931 880 651 0
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