In its research to understand end user insights on quantum computing from a business perspective, Hyperion Research asked 415 decision makers (including CIOs 36% and CTOs 20%), influencers and stakeholders about their:
- Awareness of quantum computing
- Use cases and applications
- Buying decision process
- Challenges and opportunities
Bob Sorensen, Senior VP of Research at Hyperion, shared the early findings of the study at the Qubits 21 conference. The survey is recent, conducted from September 17 – 26, 2021.
Awareness is solid with 69% of companies they spoke with already having an in-house quantum computing program of some kind and 21% planning to do so. And most companies already have processes in place that will be aided and improved with quantum computing applications, including data analysis, machine learning, optimization, simulation, and material science.
The State of Current Computational Workloads
Hyperion’s goal was to speak with people who already have HPC-type needs for compute-intensive applications in a production environment. Sixty-eight percent of the companies in the research have computer workloads that include high-performance computing in a production or enterprise environment.
What they found is a diversity of workloads—not yet on quantum—but on classical, including all the time or frequently performing:
- Machine and/or deep learning (72%)
- Optimization (81%)
- Modeling and simulation (71%)
- Materials science (59%)
- Data analysis (87%)
Unmet Computational Demand Due to Time, Expertise, and Complexity
What we found as a compelling incentive for exploration into quantum is the 62% of respondents that report unmet computational demand needs of 25% or more of current total workload.
When asked which obstacles interfered with the ability to solve computationally dependent business problems, the answers centered around time, expertise, and complexity:
- Time to implement a solution (43%)
- Long computational times to solution once implemented (41%)
- No relevant in-house expertise (31%)
- Too many variables, constraints (24%)
How Quantum Computing Helps Address Unmet Computational Demand
Given the amount of unmet computational needs and the growing familiarity and interest in quantum computing, organizations that start exploring quantum now will have a leg up on gaining the advantages it will bring with business applications.
To give you perspective on the obstacles above related to time, expertise, and complexity, here are some things to consider that are becoming reality today and will become much more powerful in the future as the industry matures.
Time and Expertise:
Unarguably, time is seen as a factor for quantum computing. Hardware vendor solution development kits (SDKs) are intensive and require an extreme amount of expertise to create and successfully run a quantum program. This is why organizations that want easier ways to reap the advantages consider using a quantum application accelerator.
A quantum application accelerator eliminates the need for quantum programming by offering ready-to-run software designed to deliver specific solutions. This speeds up your time to results from a quantum computer since you don’t need to spend months or years to create programs.
Complexity:
The problem of complex interactions of variables and constraints as obstacles to solving complex computational problems can be illustrated by the limits organizations have found in applying constrained optimization to make better business decisions.
The complex interdependencies of business data from which to make better decisions is outpacing our computational capabilities today. Classical computers weren’t designed to handle the volume or complexity of analysis required as we are seeing today. And the exorbitant time it takes to analyze today’s datasets proves it.
This is where quantum computing comes in. Quantum computing techniques empower constrained optimization to a new level of accuracy and performance. You’ll also gain a diversity of answers to choose from, not just one—like you get when solving problems against constraints with today’s solutions. You’ll have more exposure to options that are a better representation of your real-world complexities and nuances.
By empowering quantum computing techniques to take on the complexity, you’ll be on track to answer unmet computational needs to achieve market advantage.
The Bottom Line:
The current need for quantum computing is undeniable. Unmet computational demands indicate that opportunity exists to improve analysis for organizations today. Regardless of the recency with which business use cases for quantum have become explorable, the business leaders interviewed by Hyperion see the potential for the success of quantum.
Respondents ranked financial optimization (51%), manufacturing/factory processes (48%), logistics/supply chain problems (46%), and chemistry/materials problems (36%) as the top problems they think quantum computing can successfully address in their organizations.
When asked about the biggest opportunity quantum computing offers their organizations, revenue and research capabilities tied for first, with driving innovation and achieving competitive advantage tied for third and fourth.
Can you afford not to begin exploring what quantum computing can bring to your organization?
