BIG
DATA
For most organisations,
big data is now the reality of
doing business
. Technological and social innovations
are resulting in
huge flows of new data every day
.
As we enter this undeniable
era of big data
where
more information will be captured in ever-finer detail,
and from more sources than ever before,
does that
mean our decision-making will improve?
It’s certainly clear that enthusiasm
for the ‘idea’ of big data is high,
with
87% of respondents say
that at least one of their
organisation’s departments
are keen to have access to
business/analytics tools
and
82% of ITDMs saying it will give
them a competitive advantage
.
Indeed, demand is almost universal
across departments with just 1%
who say that big data is not wanted
by any in their organisations.
big.
data
£
Early adoption has been significant with
40% already having big data
, a figure
that predictably
rises to nearly 50%
in
those
larger organisations
with more
than 3000 employees.
Perhaps as a result of their established data manipulation processes, organisations in the Financial Services and Manufacturing sectors have been quicker to perform big data analysis with 50% doing so. As have B2B companies which could be because their customer base is more concentrated and more easily defined lending itself more naturally to analysis.
Within the
next 3 years
a
further 44%
intending to adopt big data
and
82% agree
that
most organisations
will be doing big data analysis in
10 years
time
, so big data is definitely
here to stay. But why are organisations
implementing big data and is it
delivering the expected results?
big.
data
Expectations are actually quite parochial
when it comes to the
reasons why
organisations are implementing
big data projects
. The more nebulous
aims of ‘
improving customer
experience
’ and ‘
understanding
the customer better
’ both scored
higher at
44%
and
42%
respectively
than the idea of hard financial gain
‘
increasing revenue
’ (
37%
).
And when we look at those who actually have responsibility for big data analysis tools we find that the customer is very much king, with just over half of respondents citing ‘improving the customer experience’ as their reason for adopting big data.
But is the promise of big data delivering in reality? It’s definitely proving more complex to implement than anticipated although there’s no single
clear-cut reason for it. That said, the most common issues relate to expense.
big.
data
1
2
3
Of those who found big data more
expensive than expected, just under a
third
found that their infrastructure
required more
changes
or updates
than expected, nearly the same number
again incurred
unexpected costs of
buying new hardware
in order
to
implement big data
and a quarter had
incurred unexpected costs of buying
new software.
Indeed cost has proved to be a significant issue with 49% saying big data has been more expensive than expected. That figure rises to 58% in the larger organisations where early adoption has been higher and a staggering 73% in B2B organisations.
big.
data
31%
29%
26%
Perhaps this is why
lack of budget
is
the
most common reason given
for
why organisations are
not currently
using big data
.
41% of those not yet
using big data
,
and not intending to
use it in the near future
, say that they
simply don’t have the budget
for it
with the problem more pronounced in
smaller organisations
where that
figure rises to 47%
.
Furthermore, just over a third say budgetis also the most common reason preventing IT departments from providing high quality big data analysis and 65% of those using or intending to use big data agree that the
requests made by other departments regarding big data are not possible due to budget. Notably those with responsibility for big data, and therefore real experience of these issues, are more likely to completely agree that departments are making impossible requests.
So the idea that
big data is ‘just out
there waiting to be used
’
isn’t
strictly true
, there’s a
cost involved
that even those used to analysing data
are finding prohibitive.
Even with the required budget available, finding the right people able to use big data tools and make sense of the answers generated could prove the biggest barrier to organisations benefiting from their big data.
Of those in
smaller organisations
(those with 1000-3000 employees) who
are finding big data more expensive
than expected, there is already a
clear
skill shortage
when it comes to
implementing big data:
31%
of these
companies (
nearly
double that of the
larger organisations
) are
finding
that
hiring
the right people took longer
than expected
. For those natural data
manipulators in Financial Services this
was a significant issue with half
struggling to find the right staff.
big.
data
1000-3000
employees
employees
3000+
31%
And analysing that data is also proving difficult. A lack of specialist skills is affecting the quality of data analysis with 33% reporting this is a problem for their organisation.
But it was when we looked closely at extracting real value from big data that reality most sharply departed from theory. Almost 60% are aware
that some departments within their
organisation have complaintsabout their big data tools. Even in the Financial Services sector, where data analysis is more established, a significant 44% are unhappy with big data tools and in B2C organisations this rose to 70% having departments who complain.
What’s more, the problems don’t stop there because 45% have issues with the data they actually have managed to gather – a figure that rises to 60% in B2C organisations.
big.
data
With 31% reporting issues with the amount of time it takes to run analysis and 30% finding the tools difficult to use without training it’s no wonder that 83% using or planning to use big data soon agree that big data is difficult to implement for all data sources.
big.
data
A significant number (
36%
) said the
insights
big data gave them were
not reliable
,
rising to 53% for data
users themselves
who reported a
variety of issues with the data. The most
commonly cited complaint of those
experiencing data quality issues is the
changing format of data, reported by a
third of respondents. But data
manipu-lation requirements (27%), poor data
quality (25%) and out of date data (24%)
also feature prominently, showing that
tools are often fighting a losing battle
with incomplete and inconsistent data.
Despite this data users can still clearly
recognise the benefits of big data
with a
convincing 82% agreeing
that
big data would be beneficial
if all the data could be analysed
.
However, whether it was the lack of skills that 1/3 report is stopping this happening, or other inherent shortcomings, only 16% are prepared to say that their big data tools are of high quality and 61% say that the information gathered from big data is difficult to action with those actually using the data tools most likely to agree.
So even given the data, they cannot
extract the value in it. No wonder
then that nearly
80%
of those
performing big data analysis
agree
that
big data
is
underused
.
big.
data
big.
data
Overall 59% say their requests for business analysis/tools are unfulfilled. This is borne out when we ask if departments have access to the analytics tools they’d like.
Somewhat inevitably
IT departments
are the
most likely
to be
satisfied
but even then
only 37%
of them
have
access to all the tools they would
like
.
In all other departmentsonly 1/3 or less have accessto all the tools they would like, with 14% overall having no departments with access to all the tools they would like.
Big data
needs to
go through IT
to ensure the involvement of all
departments but this is causing
conflict and delay so it’s no major
surprise that the
IT department
is feeling the brunt of this
frustration
.
44%
of big data users
say that departments in their
organisation are
unhappy that IT
departments
have
control over
big data
with the issue more
pronounced in B2C organisations
where 55% cite this as a problem.
Although IT departments in the B2B sector appear to have more control with 72% confident that no departments have rolled out a big data project on their own this is not the case in other sectors.
Overall 33%saydepartments in their organisation have rolled out a big data project without IT support.
A worrying 23% believing that big data projects outside of IT are not a data security issue but security of big data is a big concern. The collection of masses of information could lead to a legal mess for companies based in the E.U. as more than 80 countries now have data privacy laws* and the European Union defines seven “safe harbor privacy principles” for the protection of E.U. citizens’ personal data.
Another barrier to the success of
big
data
could be because as yet it has
failed to win the backing of the
boardroom
. Overall,
nearly 50%
agree
that the
Board do not regard
big data as important
with this
more noticeable in B2C and the Retail,
Distribution & Transport sector. Those
actually tasked with using the data tools
are the most likely to feel this lack of
support. Can big data deliver without
this support?
big.
data
Like most technological developments it’s
tempting to assume big data
is
the panacea
but big data
does not automatically mean bigger and better
information
. Undoubtedly, there is a
real commercial advantage
to be gained
from big data but organisations need to
ensure they have an agreed strategy
and the right elements in place to
make the most of these opportunities
.
Business leaders must take control and recognise the requirement to
manage
the volume
of data;
fully access
the
commercial insights
; and
secure the
right skills
. In big data, as in almost all areas of IT and business at large,
For more information on our services, to read case studies or access lots of research content visit our website:
www.vansonbourne.com
If you’d like to know more, contact us here: Email:[email protected] Tel: 01635 550449 or follow us on: www.twitter.com/vansonbourne www.linkedin.com/company/vanson-bourne www.vansonbourne.com/news/our-blog
