DEEP
DIVE
DEEP
DIVE
The survey results highlight significant expectations
for spending increases, yet tempered confidence
in IT departments’ ability to meet Big Data
business demands. Additionally, it uncovers that
organizations are turning externally to address
Big Data skills shortages through training and
contingent hires.
More than 200 IT leaders (CIOs, IT VPs, IT directors,
IT hiring managers) were polled in February 2015.
Introduction
“
There is certainly immense value in Big Data, but without
great people
and a
focus on the workforce
, the prospects that Big Data can deliver will
unfortunately rarely be realized. Too often organizations delay their workforce
needs until it is too late. When the
focus is building a team
of great people,
organizations will always
yield better results
than when they rely only on
the technology.
”
Spending/Confidence
Spending
Sixty-one percent of IT leaders expect spending on Big Data to increase, while 34 percent expect budget stability, meaning a mere 5 percent expect decreases.
TEKsystems' Take
When compared to findings from TEKsystems’ annual IT forecast for 2015, IT leaders expecting Big Data spending increases far outdistances those who expected general IT spending increases
(61 percent vs. 45 percent).
Spending/Confidence
How do you expect your organization’s Big Data IT
spending to change in 2015?
Q:
Spending
Big Data
5%
34%
61%
IT 2015
16%
39%
45%
Increase
Stay the same DecreaseSkills
Areas of Impact
Workforce Expectations
Spending/Confidence
Confidence
In terms of confidence to satisfy Big Data demands, 59 percent express confidence, while 14 percent are not confident. Their confidence to satisfy Big Data demands is actually lower (59 percent vs. 71 percent) than their confidence in being able to satisfy IT demands in general.
TEKsystems' Take
The data indicates current expectations of Big Data are still somewhat unrealistic due to market hype. Despite IT leaders expecting spending to increase, the confidence level in their department’s ability to meet Big Data demands in comparison to broader IT initiatives is lower.
Spending/Confidence
How confident are you in your current IT department’s
expertise to satisfy Big Data demands in 2015?
Confident
Neutral UnconfidentConfidence Index
Big Data
IT 2015
14%
27%
59%
9%
71%
20%
Q:
Skills
Areas of Impact
Workforce Expectations
2015 Rank
% of IT leaders
1
Big Data Architect
65%
2
Data Scientist
48%
3
Data Modeler
43%
4
Big Data Developer
40%
5
Big Data Analyst
31%
6
Big Data Engineer
29%
7
Database Developer
27%
8
Database Administrator
26%
Most Difficult-to-Fill Positions
Sixty-five percent of IT leaders rank Big Data architects as the most difficult role to fill. Data scientists (48 percent) and data modelers (43 percent) round out the top three most difficult to fill positions and are the only other positions securing more than 40 percent of responses.
More technical Big Data positions are ranked less difficult to fill and secured 40 percent or less of selections. Positions ranked in the following order, in decreasing difficulty to fill: Big Data developers (40 percent), Big Data analysts (31 percent), Big Data engineers (29 percent), database developers (27 percent) and database administrators (26 percent).
TEKsystems' Take
The data analysis, data wrangling and algorithm expertise that Big Data architects and data scientists possess represent a very scarce skill set as compared to the more mainstream Big Data developers and administrators.
Considering the challenges organizations face in dealing with the volume, velocity and variety of data, there is no surprise that these strategic roles are in
How difficult is it currently to find exceptional talent
to fill the following Big Data related roles? (rank the
top 3)
Skills
Skills
Q:
Spending/Confidence
Areas of Impact
Workforce Expectations
Business Value to be Derived
The application of Big Data is happening in a number of business areas. Eighty-one percent of leaders view operations and fulfillment as priority areas within the next 12 months. This was followed by customer satisfaction (53 percent), business strategy (52 percent), governance/risk/ compliance (51 percent) and sales/marketing (49 percent).
TEKsystems' Take
It appears that the vast majority of IT leaders are looking to apply the benefits of Big Data to near-term and internally focused impact areas, such as operations and fulfillment and customer satisfaction.
While still important, fewer IT leaders identify longer-term and externally focused aspects of business strategy and sales and marketing, as priorities over the next 12 months.
Areas of Impact
Objective % of IT leaders Business Function
Improved Customer Service 45% Customer Satisfaction Process Efficiency 42% Operations/Fulfillment Cost reduction 39% Operations/Fulfillment Predictive Analytics 38% Business Strategy/Planning Developing new products and/or services 33% Sales/Marketing Stronger data governance 30% Governance/Risk/Compliance Greater compliance 21% Governance/Risk/Compliance Targeted marketing campaigns 16% Sales/Marketing Generating revenue directly from data/
monetizing data 14% Business Strategy/Planning
Areas of Impact
What business value related to Big Data projects,
initiatives or programs are you prioritizing over the
next 12 months? (select all that apply)
Q:
Spending/Confidence
Skills
Workforce Expectations
Areas of Impact
31%
24%
(Speed of data)45%
(Amount of data)Areas of Impact
Dimensions of Difficulty
Variety, the dimension of Big Data dealing with the different forms of data, hinders organizations from deriving value from Big Data the most with 45 percent of IT leaders choosing it as such. Velocity (speed of data) is next at 31 percent and Volume (amount of data) at 24 percent.
TEKsystems' Take
It is clear the variety of data presents the greatest area of struggle for IT leaders. For any organization to effectively use data to influence their business decisions, they first have to determine how to mine their data for actionable insight. Data alone is not enough; it’s the ability to leverage that data that makes it valuable.
Variety
Velocity
Volume
(Different forms of data)
Which of the following Big Data dimensions is most
hindering your organization’s ability to derive
value from your Big Data projects, initiatives, or
programs? (choose one)
Q:
Spending/Confidence
Skills
Workforce Expectations
Workforce Expectations
Workforce Strategy
% of IT Leaders
Train, develop and/or realign internal/current IT staff
42%
Hire contingent/temporary
IT workers
35%
Hire full-time IT staff
29%
Outsource Big Data projects, initiatives and/or programs
20%
We do not have a workforce strategy for our Big Data
related projects, initiatives, and/or programs
18%
Workforce Expectations
Addressing Big Data Skills Gaps
IT leaders cite training/development and realignment of existing staff as their leading approach (42 percent) to address Big Data skills gaps. This was followed by hiring contingent staff (35 percent), hiring full-time staff (29 percent) and outsourcing (20 percent). Surprisingly, 18 percent indicated they had no workforce strategy for addressing Big Data skills gaps.
TEKsystems' Take
Effective workforce management strategies that incorporate training and mixed hiring models (full-time and contingent) are critical to Big Data success.
With regards to Big Data related projects, initiatives
or programs, what are your primary workforce
strategies for addressing your IT department’s skills
gaps? (select all that apply)
Q:
Spending/Confidence
Skills
Areas of Impact
Workforce Expectations
4%
44%
52%
Workforce Expectations
Hiring Expectations
Overall, 44 percent of IT leaders expect hiring for Big Data positions to increase, 52 percent expect it to stay the same, and a mere 4 percent expect it to decrease.
TEKsystems' Take
The importance of people in the success of Big Data initiatives is evident, with 96 percent of IT leaders expecting hiring to increase or stay the same. Furthering this belief is how organizations are going to address their IT department’s skill gaps as it relates to Big Data.
