Enterprise-wide log data collection and analysis has become a multiterabyte-scale issue driven by security, compliance and IT operations, says Jon Oltsik, senior analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group. His recent report says 40% of large organizations collect at least 1TB of log data monthly. More business intelligence and reporting functions are needed, says Oltsik, as well as more consolidated IT efforts toward log data, which is necessary when investigating a security breach or slow application. Vendors are addressing the issue, but large enterprises aren't necessarily on top of the problem. "No one's not [collecting and] analyzing their data," he says. "There are certainly companies that aren't doing either one or both of those things well." Oltsik predicts a growing and divided market in the future, with some vendors focusing on log management infrastructure and others on analysis. "I really do believe there will be a bifurcation," he says. "There won't be many companies that do both." --Christine Cignoli