Charles Dickens’ classic novel, A Tale of Two Cities, begins, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.” When it comes to information to help business professionals make wise decisions, answer critical questions, and resolve significant problems, today truly is the best and worst of times. There is more data than ever to understand and improve corporate performance, and it’s growing by 30% a year, according to recent industry analyst estimates.

In the midst of this data explosion, IT delivery systems are hard pressed to keep pace. According to a recent study commissioned by Accenture, “Managers spend two hours a day looking for information they need, and almost half the data is useless once they get it.” With so much wasted time, and more data predicted to be on its way to compound the problem, business professionals may be facing the worst of times.

What is on the technology horizon to address the demand for these exponential amounts of data?

We believe it’s the next step in data integration that combines the power of data virtualization with the ease and immediacy of search. It’s called data discovery. In its currently nascent stage, data discovery promises to let business professionals leverage their ever-expanding data assets more effectively to stay ahead of increasingly dynamic competition.