Companies Say More Money for More Big Data

Six Big Business Intelligence Mistakes

Midmarket companies are willing to spend on Big Data, according to a recent survey by Competitive Edge Research Reports. In fact, the results show budgets will rise to an average of $6 million more over the next two years as companies invest more in hardware, software and training for Big Data, the executive summary notes.

The global survey was sponsored by Dell and targeted midmarket executives and received 300 responses, with a 5.5 percent margin of error (and thank you, Competitive Edge, for including that, since too many research reports do not). The responses were evenly divided between C-level executives and directors/managers, although it was dominated 67 percent to 33 percent by those with some level of IT department involvement.

Even though it targeted leaders with Big Data familiarity, I’m still impressed that 96 percent either already have one or more Big Data initiatives (41 percent) or are planning one (55 percent). Again, these are midmarket companies with between 2,000 and 5,000 employees.

What’s not surprising is who’s driving Big Data investments: The survey found IT and sales/marketing are the most influential departments when it comes to Big Data projects. It’s also not surprising that the survey found IT/business collaboration is a major reason for success with Big Data.

This is one of several surveys of this type I’ve shared recently, and one thing that continues to impress me is the range of impact Big Data has. Experts frequently talk about Big Data’s implication for knowledge and information, but Ventana Research found that’s not really why companies adopt Big Data. Ventana asked companies about anticipated benefits, allowing multiple choices. Those planning to deploy Big Data cited benefits such as:

• Faster response to opportunities and threats (57 percent)
• Improving efficiency (57 percent)
• Improving customer experience (48 percent)
• Gaining competitive advantage (43 percent)

After implementation, however, Ventana found the most mentioned benefits are:

• Better communication and knowledge sharing (51 percent)
• Gaining competitive advantage (51 percent)
• Improved efficiency in business processes (49 percent)
• Improved customer experience and satisfaction (46 percent)

Competitive Edge Research’s survey also showed a wide range of benefits. Respondents said Big Data was very important in helping them meet the following business goals:

• Improve product and service quality (51 percent)
• Identify and take advantage of business opportunities (51 percent)
• Improve quality and speed of decision making (50 percent)
• Obtain better and deeper understanding of customer services (45 percent)
• Quickly respond to competitive threats or other inputs (44 percent)

The executive summary is available for free download from Dell, if you’d like to read it. You can also download Ventana’s executive survey for free.