Real-Time Event-Driven Data Flows Bring Exponential Business Value to Financial Services, Manufacturing, and Retail Sectors

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Solace, a leading enabler of event-driven architecture (EDA) for real-time enterprises, has announced the release of the IDC Infobrief, sponsored by Solace, Getting in Sync: Unlocking the Exponential Business Value of Real-Time Event-Driven Data Flows. The Infobrief is based on the results of a survey of over 300 enterprise IT professionals in North America, Asia, and Europe, all of whom work for companies with over 1,000 employees that are implementing or considering EDA.

According to the survey, enterprises that have implemented EDA see a significant return on investment (ROI). The financial services, manufacturing, and retail sectors reported the most significant benefits from EDA adoption, with 23% of respondents reporting an increase in productivity, 22% experiencing better customer acquisition, and 18% seeing revenue growth.

The survey also revealed that as businesses gain experience in their early applications of EDA, they recognize other areas of their business in which EDA could be beneficial. This is reflected by the fact that 82% said their company plans to apply EDA to 2-3 new use cases within the next 24 months, and 93% of companies that have deployed EDA across multiple use cases said EDA has met or exceeded their expectations.

“Mychelle Mollot, chief marketing officer at Solace, said, “It’s been clear for several years that event-driven architecture has become the de facto standard way businesses are becoming real-time, and the results of this survey confirm that. The survey results show how the market has evolved since a survey we conducted in 2021, and sheds light on the increasing ROI enterprises see as they advance toward enterprise-wide EDA.”

Furthermore, the survey found that organizations with higher levels of EDA maturity were more likely to report being ahead of their peers in developing digital business models than those in early stages. EDA maturity is linked to general digital maturity, as those with higher levels of EDA maturity generally exhibit the strategic and change management support needed to sustain digital business initiatives.

Expanding the footprint of EDA across the enterprise is a journey, and the survey also revealed that as benefits evolve over time, so do the challenges faced. For organizations just getting started with EDA, the most common challenges are a lack of understanding of EDA benefits and inconsistent buy-in between business and IT. As organizations progress and internal support increases, the most common concerns are keeping costs in check and finding the right use cases. Finally, companies further along run into change resistance as EDA affects an increasing number of processes across lines of business and partners.

According to Shari Lava, research director, automation within the AI and automation group, IDC, “EDA maturity is linked to general digital maturity, as those with higher levels of EDA maturity generally exhibit the strategic and change management support needed to sustain digital business initiatives. In fact, organizations with higher levels of EDA maturity were more likely to report being ahead of their peers in developing digital business models than those in early stages.”

The survey also found that 93% of companies that have deployed EDA across multiple use cases said EDA has met or exceeded their expectations. However, for organizations just getting started with EDA, the most common challenges are a lack of understanding of EDA benefits and inconsistent buy-in between business and IT. As organizations progress and internal support increases, the most common concerns are keeping costs in check and finding the right use cases. Finally, companies further along run into change resistance as EDA affects an increasing number of processes across lines of business and partners.

The outcomes of the recent survey sponsored by Solace draw similarities to those of the initial study conducted in 2021, which exclusively concentrated on EDA. The latter concluded that while the majority of participants acknowledged the significant business benefits of implementing EDA, the adoption of the technology was still in its infancy and required more substantial support from business leadership to progress.