AI Helps Fuel Rush to Real-Time Data Platforms, ISG Says
Enterprises seek platforms to process, analyze streams of data for improved decision-making, customer experiences, new research says
By 2027, more than three-quarters of enterprises will be able to process events and streaming data in real time, making them more responsive to customer needs and other requirements, according to new research from global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III).
The ISG Buyers Guides™ for Real-Time Data, produced by ISG Software Research, provide rankings and ratings of over 25 software providers and their products for supporting the architectural shifts required for data to support AI for operations. The research finds that companies are seeking the ability to process and analyze data in real time to enable applications that deliver AI-driven personalization and recommendations. While most organizations have long relied on batch data processing, which was necessary when computing power was more limited, they are now looking for a new approach that supports the full benefits of AI. Real-time machine learning on operational data delivers instant, relevant information for faster decision-making.
"Real-time data processing lets enterprises operate at the speed of business, acting on events as they happen," said Matt Aslett, director of research, ISG Software Research, and lead author of the reports. "As consumers seek AI-driven interactive applications, companies need information architectures that include streaming data and event processing."
Until recently, real-time data processing was limited to industries with extreme high-performance requirements, such as financial services and telecommunications. Only 22 percent of enterprises analyze data in real time today, ISG says. However, the core concepts and technologies are proven, mature and readily available. The new ISG research finds that the top software providers have matured to deliver nearly 80 percent of the overall product and customer experience required to support enterprise needs.
Real-time data processing begins with an event, which may be any change of state, such as a sensor identifying a new temperature reading, the reports say. With effective application integration, sensors, devices and applications can share messages about events as they occur, increasingly via application programming interfaces. Real-time data systems ingest, filter and aggregate data about events through stream processing. This forms the basis of stream analytics, which analyzes event data using SQL queries, machine learning or inferencing based on generative AI models.
Mainstream enterprises are now pursuing real-time data processing to support interactive applications, and the proliferation of products in this field has helped lower the cost and technical barriers to developing new real-time applications, ISG says. Advanced data streaming platforms now enable organizations to combine data from multiple sources into a single stream. This requires stateful stream processing that retains the context of previously processed events and guarantees that messages are processed even if there are system failures or performance issues. Streaming data analytics platforms offer both traditional chart-based views of data and geospatial visualizations, which are critical for real-time analysis of IoT data.
An enterprise-wide real-time data strategy requires an event-driven architecture that includes the full range of these functions, ISG says. Success with streaming data also depends on holistic management and governance of data both in motion and at rest. As enterprises consider their current and future data architecture needs, they should consider both real-time technologies and traditional batch data platforms so they can view all data in motion and at rest.
For its 2025 Buyers Guides for Real-Time Data, ISG evaluated, rated and ranked 25 software providers across five platform categories – Real-Time Data, Application Integration, Messaging & Event Processing, Streaming Analytics and Streaming Data – and produced a separate Buyers Guide for each. A total of 42 providers were assessed: AWS, Actian, Adeptia, Aiven, Alibaba Cloud, Altair, Boomi, Broadcom, Celigo, Cleo, Cloud Software Group, Cloudera, Confluent, Cumulocity, Databricks, Frends, Google Cloud, GridGain, Hazelcast, Huawei Cloud, IBM, Informatica, Jitterbit, Kurrent, Materialize, Microsoft, MongoDB, Oracle, Palantir, Qlik, Qubole, Redpanda, Safe Software, Salesforce, SAP, SAS, SnapLogic, Solace, Striim, Tencent Cloud, Tray.ai and Workato.
ISG Software Research rates software providers on seven performance categories. Five are product-related: usability, manageability, reliability, capability, and adaptability. Two are customer assurance-related: validation and total cost of ownership and return on investment (TCO/ROI). Providers ranked in the top three for each performance category are named as Leaders. Within each platform category, those with the most Leader rankings are named as Overall Leaders.
The Overall Leaders of the 2025 Buyers Guides for Real-Time Data were the following:
Real-Time Data: AWS earned the highest overall rating, followed closely by Google Cloud and Microsoft. AWS was designated a Leader in one category, Google Cloud in three categories and Microsoft in two. Confluent, Cloudera, Databricks, IBM, Informatica, Oracle and Solace were rated Exemplary. Alibaba Cloud, Cloud Software Group, Huawei Cloud and Redpanda were rated Innovative.
Application Integration: Oracle topped the list, followed by Informatica and SAP. Oracle and Informatica were designated Leaders in five categories each, with SAP a Leader in two. AWS, Boomi, Google Cloud, IBM, Microsoft, Salesforce, Snaplogic and Solace were rated Exemplary, and Adeptia was rated Innovative.
Messaging & Event Processing: Google Cloud earned the highest overall rating and was designated a Leader in three categories. AWS and Solace followed and were Leaders in two categories each. IBM and Microsoft were also rated Exemplary. Alibaba Cloud, Cloudera, Confluent and Redpanda were rated Innovative.
Streaming Analytics: Databricks earned the top rating, followed by Oracle and Microsoft. Oracle was designated a Leader in all six categories, Databricks in five and Microsoft in two. AWS, Confluent and Google Cloud were rated Exemplary, while Cloud Software Group, Cumulocity, Huawei Cloud, Palantir and SAS were rated Innovative.
Streaming Data: Databricks earned the highest overall rating and was designated a Leader in four categories. AWS was second-highest overall, followed closely by Microsoft, which was named a Leader in two categories. Cloudera, Confluent, Google Cloud, Informatica, IBM and MongoDB were rated Exemplary. Alibaba Cloud, Cloud Software Group, Cumulocity, Huawei Cloud, Palantir, Redpanda, SAS and Striim were rated Innovative.
"To remain competitive, enterprises constantly need to analyze more data and act on it in real time, which requires the right real-time architecture and enterprise software," said Mark Smith, partner and chief software analyst, ISG Software Research. "This new provider research provides the industry's first-ever intelligence and insights on the portfolio of software options to meet enterprise needs."
The ISG Buyers Guides™ for Real-Time Data are the distillation of more than a year of market and product research efforts. The research is not sponsored nor influenced by software providers and is conducted solely to help enterprises optimize their business and IT software investments.
Visit this webpage to learn more about the ISG Buyers Guides™ for Real-Time Data and read executive summaries of each of the five reports. The complete reports, including provider rankings across seven product and customer experience dimensions and detailed research findings on each provider, are available by contacting ISG Software Research.
About ISG Software Research
ISG Software Research provides authoritative coverage and analysis of the business and IT software industry. It distributes research and insights daily through its user community, and provides a portfolio of consulting, advisory, research and education services for enterprises, software and service providers, and investment firms. Its ISG Buyers Guides™ help enterprises evaluate and select software providers through tailored assessments powered by ISG's proprietary methodology. Visit www.isg-research.net for more information and to sign up for free community membership.
About ISG
ISG (Nasdaq: III) is a global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm. A trusted partner to more than 900 clients, including 75 of the world's top 100 enterprises, ISG is a long-time leader in technology and business services that is now at the forefront of leveraging AI to help organizations achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm, founded in 2006, is known for its proprietary market data, in-depth knowledge of provider ecosystems, and the expertise of its 1,600 professionals worldwide working together to help clients maximize the value of their technology investments.
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