Global Research Shows More Than Half of
Enterprises Need Significant Data Management Investment, and Over a
Quarter Are Diverting IT Budgets to Meet GenAI Goals
SANTA
CLARA, Calif., May 6, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- Couchbase, Inc. (NASDAQ: BASE), the
cloud database platform company, today released the findings from
its seventh annual survey of global IT leaders. The study of 500
senior IT decision makers1 found that
investment in IT modernization is set to increase by 27% in
2024, as enterprises look to take advantage of new technologies,
such as AI and edge computing, while meeting ever-increasing
productivity demands. There is a clear demand for modernization and
tech investment: 59% are worried their organizations' ability to
manage data won't meet generative AI's (GenAI) demands without
significant investment. With the right approach to this
investment, enterprises will be better prepared to overcome
productivity challenges and satisfy end users who demand
continuously improving experiences.
Enterprises plan to spend an average of $35.5 million on IT modernization in 2024. More
than a third of that will be on AI, with the average
enterprise investing over $21
million on the technology in 2023-24, and $6.7 million on GenAI specifically. The drivers
for this are clear: rapidly prototyping and testing new ideas,
making employees more efficient, and identifying and capitalizing
on new business trends. Yet enterprises recognize there are
challenges ahead — from ensuring AI can be used effectively
and safely, to having sufficient compute power and data center
infrastructure in place.
"Enterprises have entered the AI age, but so far are only
scratching the surface," said Matt
McDonough, SVP of product and partners at Couchbase.
"Almost every enterprise we surveyed has specific goals to use
GenAI in 2024. If used correctly, this technology will be key
to managing the challenges facing organizations. From keeping pace
with end-user expectations for adaptable applications, to meeting
ever-accelerating productivity demands, GenAI-powered applications
can provide the agility and productivity enterprises need.
Enterprises must be certain that their data architecture can cope
with GenAI's demands, as without high-speed access to accurate,
tightly managed data it can easily guide individuals and
organizations down the wrong path."
Key findings include:
- Businesses are unprepared for GenAI's data demands: 54%
do not have all the elements of a data strategy suitable for GenAI
in place. Only 18% of enterprises have a vector database that can
store, manage and index vector data efficiently. Enabling
capabilities such as control over data storage, access and use; the
ability to access, share and use data in real time; the ability to
use vector search to improve GenAI performance; and a consolidated
database infrastructure to prevent applications from accessing
multiple versions of data will be critical to building a strategy
that meets GenAI's data demands.
- Reliance on legacy technology is stalling
modernization: Despite increased investment in modernization,
factors such as a reliance on legacy technology that cannot meet
new digital requirements is either causing projects to fail, suffer
delays, be scaled back or be prevented from ever happening. The
result is an average $4 million
wasted investment per year, and an 18-week delay on strategic
projects.
- Targeted spending: Respondents are aware of how
investment can help their GenAI capabilities. Almost three quarters
(73%) are increasing investment in AI tools to help developers work
more effectively and create new GenAI applications faster, while
65% say edge computing will be critical for enabling new AI
applications — by reducing latency and placing data and computing
power together.
- The dangers of rushing into AI: 64% of respondents
believed most organizations have rushed to adopt GenAI without
understanding what's needed to use it effectively and safely.
Worryingly, this may have been achieved by weakening other areas —
26% of enterprises diverted spending from other areas to meet AI
objectives, most often from security and IT support and
maintenance.
- Meeting the productivity challenge: 71% of IT
departments are under growing pressure to do more with less. On
average, enterprises need to increase productivity by 33%
year-on-year simply to remain competitive. This could explain why
98% of respondents have specific goals to use GenAI in 2024.
- Investing in infrastructure: 60% of respondents are
worried about whether their organization has sufficient compute
power and data center infrastructure to support GenAI, while 61%
say their corporate social responsibility and environmental
responsibilities mean they cannot fully adopt GenAI unless based on
more efficient infrastructure. Some respondents may be unaware of
potential solutions — 66% believe they would need to invest in
multiple databases to get all of the necessary capabilities to
support GenAI, despite the existence of solutions that support all
multipurpose access needs.
- Adaptability is key to meeting end-user demands: 61% of
enterprises are under pressure to continually deliver improved
experiences for end users, with the average consumer-facing
application falling behind expectations in 19 months, and the
average employee-facing application in 20. To counteract this, 45%
of respondents say adaptability — the ability to change what the
application offers the user as needed — will be the most essential
attribute for applications.
"Investing in the right data management and infrastructure
architecture will help unlock GenAI's transformative potential,"
continued McDonough. "For instance, organizations don't need vast,
complex 'jack of all trades' applications to improve
productivity and meet expectations, nor do they need multiple,
costly databases to meet their needs. An adaptive application that
can use GenAI to enhance a specific end-user experience will be
equally effective while also having a much faster time to market.
And a modern multipurpose database with all necessary
functionalities will help keep architectures and costs as
streamlined as possible."
Read the full Couchbase report here and the blog here.
Additional resources
- To learn more about Couchbase for AI-powered applications,
including Capella iQ co-pilot and vector search, click here
- To learn more about how Couchbase Capella helps organizations
modernize, click here
- To read about how Couchbase empowers organizations to build
adaptive applications, click here
About Couchbase
Modern customer experiences need a flexible database platform
that can power applications spanning from cloud to edge and
everything in between. Couchbase's mission is to simplify how
developers and architects develop, deploy and run modern
applications wherever they are. We have reimagined the database
with our fast, flexible and affordable cloud database platform
Capella, allowing organizations to quickly build applications that
deliver premium experiences to their customers — all with
best-in-class price performance. More than 30% of the Fortune 100
trust Couchbase to power their modern applications. For more
information, visit www.couchbase.com and follow us
on X (formerly Twitter) @couchbase.
1 Methodology: Couchbase commissioned an online
survey, conducted in February-March
2024 by Coleman Parkes
(https://colemanparkes.com/), an independent market research
organization. 500 senior IT decision makers, such as CIOs, CDOs and
CTOs, in organizations with 1,000 employees or more in the U.S.,
UK, France, Germany and Turkey were surveyed.
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SOURCE Couchbase, Inc.