Infochimps Survey: What IT Teams Want CIOs to Know About Big Data - Learn the top items that IT team members would like their CIOs to understand concerning their Big Data projects. The report - CIOs & Big Data: What Your IT Team Wants You to Know - is based on a survey of more than 300 IT department employees, 58% of whom are currently engaged in Big Data projects, and aims to identify pitfalls that implementation teams encounter, and could avoid, if top management had a more complete view.

1. CIOS & BIG DATA
What Your IT Team Wants You to Know
#1 Enterprise Big Data Cloud

2. Foreword
Today enterprises face an increasingly competitive Together, we recieved survey responses from over
and erratic global business environment, and 300 IT department staffers – 58% of whom have
Big Data has become more than just another IT current Big Data projects underway – on what
project — it’s truly a finger on the pulse of the they most wanted their CIOs to know about the
business. To say that in 2013 Big Data is “mission process of implementing Big Data projects.
critical” is to put it mildly — organizations that
ignore the insights that Big Data can deliver are The insight we gleaned reveals much about both
flying blind. So, it is all the more disconcerting that enterprise technology and enterprise culture. In
order for companies to succeed in this era of Big
55%
of Big Data projects don’t get completed,
Data, executives will need to rethink long-held
notions of how multiple departments should
function together. In the past “breaking down
and many others fall short of their objectives. silos” was a nice mantra. Now, it is an imperative.
Additionally, CIOs and other enterprise executives
While there may be many reasons for this, may find it necessary to educate their organizations
undoubtedly one of the biggest factors is lack on the advantages of new Big Data applications
of communication between top managers, who and processes that will give them better customer
provide the overall project vision, and those insights, make their jobs infinitely easier and give
charged with actually implementing it. Far too their departments the elasticity needed to meet
frequently the opinions of the IT staff doing virtually any business need in real-time.
the heavy lifting necessary to develop a Big
Data project are taken as an afterthought, and We hope this report will serve not only as
consequently considered only when projects veer a source of insight for those responsible for
off-course. architecting Big Data initiatives, but also as a
reminder to seek the invaluable perspective
Given the stakes, it’s imperative that CIOs have of IT staff as early as possible in the process of
a 360 degree view of what such an initiative will developing technology projects.
involve before it leaves the drawing board. In order
to provide a complete picture, we partnered -- Jim Kaskade, CEO, Infochimps
with SSWUG.ORG, one of the largest enterprise
technology-focused, community-driven sites and
a source for answers to IT-related questions
and professional growth for more than 570,000
members.

3. About the Research
Infochimps and SSWUG.ORG queried more than It may also be worth noting that 85 percent of
300 IT department employees for this report in respondents described their data footprint as being
fall of 2012, 58% of whom identify themselves as larger than one terabyte, and 7 percent of those
currently being involved in big data initiatives. Big described it as being larger than one petabyte,
Data implementation is a concern for companies indicating the tremendous scope and variety of
of all sizes, and we sought the opinions of people organizations considering Big Data initiatives.
from organizations ranging from small business to
enterprise level. Of those surveyed, For the purposes of this report and in order
to most accurately represent well-informed
29%
come from companies with more than
viewpoints, the statistics cited are based on the
responses of those participants who are currently
involved in Big Data initiatives. A breakdown of the
1000 employees, opinions of the complete respondent pool may be
provided upon request. However, given that a key
27%
are from companies with between
objective of this report is to inform CIOs regarding
potential pitfalls to successfully implementing Big
Data projects, we feel that the survey results, as
101-1000 employees, presented, offer the most valuable and strategic
insights.
45%
identify their companies as having
100 or fewer employees.
In order to hone in on insight from those primarily
responsible for implementation, the sample is
weighted toward staff-level positions. 86 percent
of respondents identify themselves as either
directors, managers, or systems administrators/
developers, while the remaining 14 percent identify
themselves as either VP/SVP or as belonging to the
C-suite.

4. Executive Summary
Big Data may indeed be a buzzword for 2013, technologies, and not enough time actually using
but if so it’s a buzzword with inestimable impact them to create business value. Interestingly, 61% of
on the organization. At its core, the concept respondents said managed, hosted platforms are a
of Big Data is that of supporting executive viable solution, indicating a willingness to outsource
decision-making with the most accurate, current, the back-end and focus on delivering value through
comprehensive and comprehensible presentation application.
of all information available regarding a business.
Overwhelmingly, respondents indicated that their As a relatively new development, it may come
companies are taking Big Data seriously as no surprise that participants list education
and the ability to understand the platforms as
81%
list “Big Data/Advanced Analytics Projects” in their
top challenges on Big Data projects. The report
findings also reflect a general talent gap when it
comes to data analysis expertise, which companies
Top 5 2013 IT priorities. must address before embarking on new projects.
“Lack of Business Context Around the Data”
The survey’s finding that IT staff members prefer (51%) and “Lack of Expertise to Connect the
to focus on the application layer rather than on Dots” (51%) are identified as the top reasons Big
infrastructure may provide a strong indication Data projects fail. On a similar note, respondents
as to where CIOs ought to be directing their say Data Scientists/Analysts and Business Users
investments. When asked about top IT priorities are more impactful to the bottom line than the
outside of Big Data, respondents ranked mobile, C-Suite, indicating once again that those who can
website, security and dashboarding notably above derive business value from data are in demand.
infrastructure-related options. These responses
are aligned with a general preference for managing In general, it appears that business goals of Big
the front-end over the back-end, with participants Data projects are in sync with a general trend
reporting that processing (43%), analyzing (41%) toward elasticity and business agility. Respondents
and ongoing management (42%) of Big Data pose listed the ability to scale, ease of management,
significant difficulties — companies may consider flexible architecture and speed to deployment/
outsourcing these functions to keep staff focused security as the top four most critical requirements
on impacting the bottom line. for Big Data platforms.
Furthermore, teams want to be actively involved
in selecting resources and determining how they’re
pieced together, but not necessarily in managing
and maintaining them. 66% respondents prefer
to build in-house, as Big Data represents a huge
professional opportunity — but in reality they’re
often forced to spend too much time fighting

5. Executive Summary
Much of what we found speaks to the importance Finally, while much of today’s Big Data dialogue
of creating a business culture that supports Big centers on Hadoop, it’s worth noting that
Data. For example, participants rated “Gathering respondents rated Batch (53 %) and Real-time
Data from Siloed Sources” as their “Most (49%) data processing as nearly equally important
Significant” Big Data challenge. Breaking down components of business decision-making. Clearly,
barriers to support a data unification initiative as a batch-oriented system Hadoop isn’t enough.
can require executive ‘air cover,’ and a lot of
socializing. Also, having the patience to define very In general, we find that Big Data projects often
specific project parameters also appears to be of fall short or take longer than planned due to
paramount importance, with challenges related to education, social issues, and
integration work. While IT staff may be fully aware
58%
of respondents listing “Inaccurate Scope” as the top
of the obstacles to Big Data success, and the
commitment a project requires, they may be less
aware of options to make their jobs easier, such as
reason IT projects fail. partnering with an outside vendor that can help
speed time to business value.
As a best practice, it is advisable to start with a
single key business use case with a clearly stated
objective that impacts the business.
If you wanted your CIO to know one thing..
“To benefit fully from Big Data, you must
look beyond the limitation of what you
think can be extracted from the data
available and instead think about and ask
for what you wish you could
derive/learn/extract from the data.”
-- Survey Participant

6. CIOS & BIG DATA : what your it team wants you to know
In general, we found that companies are taking Big For CIOs, this may provide a guide for 2013
Data seriously in 2013, ranking it high on the list of investment strategy. However, such a strategy
IT priorities. In fact, would not be based solely on work preferences.
Responses also indicate that many back-end
81%
of companies have Big Data/Advanced Analytics
functions are the very things that devour the most
staff time — within Big Data projects, processing
(43%), analyzing (41%) and ongoing management
Projects in their Top 5 2013 IT priorities. (42%) of the data pose significant difficulties for the
IT team.
Weighing the current business environment —
which is growing more competitive, global and
erratic by the moment — against the real-time,
predictive insight of a well-run Big Data initiative,
the remaining 19 percent ought to be asking
themselves why they’re not more heavily invested
in Big Data.
If companies want to keep their IT staff focused on
Emphasizing Application Development leveraging Big Data to impact the bottom line, they
Over Infrastructure Maintenance should consider outsourcing these functions.
The survey showed that while IT staff do not want
to divorce themselves from having a say in how
the various components of the stack are chosen
66%
of respondents prefer to build in-house,
and assembled, they would prefer to focus on
the application. Top priorities other than Big Data which should not be surprising, as Big Data
for IT staff include mobile, website, security and represents a tremendous opportunity for IT
dashboarding, all of which reside in the application staff to build their talents and resumes. To spur
layer, not in the infrastructure. innovation, constantly challenging them with
career-advancing projects and technologies and
empowering them with education is clearly a
winning management strategy.
However, consider that this finding may be more
indicative of a desire to be actively involved
in selecting resources, tools and solutions and
determining how they’re pieced together, rather
than in managing and maintaining them. Teams
are often forced to spend too much time fighting

7. CIOS & BIG DATA : what your it team wants you to know
technologies and not enough time actually using As Big Data is a relatively new focus for most IT
them to create business value. In short, those departments and companies in general, it comes
who could be answering the important questions as no surprise that most IT staff are feeling a bit
and producing the greatest insights are stuck squeezed when it comes to fully grasping the
wrestling with Hadoop clusters and other Big Data technologies. Respondents listed “Finding Talent”
technologies. Relegating the best and brightest to and “Finding the Right Tools” as top “Significant”
custodial functions that could easily be outsourced challenges they face when working with Big Data.
may very well cause them to leave in pursuit of
more interesting opportunities. In the midst of
an enterprise talent shortage, few companies can
afford such a brain drain.
In light of this, CIOs may take comfort that
80% 76%
61%
of respondents agreed that managed, hosted finding the finding the
platforms are a viable solution. talent right tools
In other words, there may be solid staff support On a related note, other findings are indicative of
for outsourcing the back-end to a managed, hosted a general data analysis talent gap, which companies
solution, simplifying the process so the IT team can need to address before Bid Data projects can
focus on what’s important — the application that succeed. Participants cite “Lack of Business
delivers business value. Context Around the Data” (51%) and “Lack of
Expertise to Connect the Dots” (51%) as the top
A Need to Educate on the Platforms and a reasons advanced analytics projects fail.
General Lack of Big Data Expertise
Respondents also say that data scientists, data
If you wanted your CIO to know one thing.. analysts and business users are more impactful
to the bottom line than the C-Suite, once again
illustrating the value that they place on those
“Understanding the hidden trends in all who can derive actionable business insight from
the data can help us better understand” data. Given that such skill sets are in short supply,
-- Survey Participant companies may look to bridge this talent gap by
offering training to existing staff as well as using the
tools that simplify the data analysis process, except
turning current staff into data scientists.

8. CIOS & BIG DATA : what your it team wants you to know
Identifying Exactly What You Want According to survey participants, the four Most
Big Data to Do for Your Organization Critical Requirements for Big Data platforms are:
When it comes Big Data, it’s critical that • Ability to Scale - as data grows, architecture
companies clearly define what they want from should keep up
the project before moving forward — 58% of • Ease of Management - it should be
respondents listed “Inaccurate Scope” as the top straightforward to maintain
reason IT projects fail. While the promise of what • Flexible Architecture - it should be adaptable
can be done with Big Data may seem boundless, to the environment and data
implementing a system with the idea that it will • Speed to Deployment - fast time to business
meet the entire organization’s needs is most likely a value
recipe for failure. Rather, start with a very narrow
scope focused on one key business use case. Once Hadoop Isn’t Enough
on course to achieving objectives with this initial
use case, expand to the next, building and iterating If you wanted your CIO to know one thing..
your system over time.
“The need for a combination of real-time
“Talk to your Sys
Admins about your big
and batch analysis frameworks.
data project. The biggest Discussions tend to emphasize one over
disconnect is between the other, instead of solving both
the Sys Admin and the problems with a single framework.
C-Level Executive.” Priorities tend to be around real-time
-- Joe Kelly access, with data warehousing solutions
COO, Infochimps
dropped.” -- Survey Participant
Additionally, companies need to have a firm idea
of what they want their Big Data platform to look Hadoop may be the most frequently cited
like, and how it should perform. component in the era of Big Data, but the survey
makes it clear that, on its own, it is not sufficient
to offer businesses truly competitive insight.
Respondents rated Batch (53 %) and Real-time
(49%) data processing as nearly equally important
components of business decision-making

9. CIOS & BIG DATA : what your it team wants you to know
Break Down Silos and the Culture Respondents listed “Budgets for Big Data Projects,”
that Produces Them (65%) “Time to Work on the Project (75%),” and
“Finding the Right Tools (76%)” as “Significant”
Participant responses shed light not only on challenges they face when working with Big Data.
technical challenges, but also a corporate culture
that stands in the way of Big Data project success Big Data is complex, and projects often take
by siloing data into the applications of various longer than planned due to education demands
departments which rarely communicate with each and challenges related to new technologies,
other. If “breaking down business silos” has been corporate culture and integration. However if IT
a mantra in companies for a while now, perhaps staff has the budget, time and tools to get the job
it hasn’t been repeated enough — respondents done right, enterprises can accompish their goals.
rate “Gathering Data from Siloed Sources” as their Additionally, keep in mind that while IT staff may
most significant Big Data challenge. be fully aware of the commitment and resources a
Big Data project requires, they may be less aware
“In our experience, of options to make their jobs easier. Partnering
breaking down barriers to with an outside vendor can speed implementation
support a data unification and accelerate time to business value. Exposing
initiative can require the team to successful Big Data technologies and
executive ‘air cover,’ and a processes, while offering the expert guidance to
lot of socializing.” turn IT staff into Big Data experts, is a key strategy
-- Jim Kaskade CIOs should consider for their Big Data products.
CEO, Infochimps
If you wanted your CIO to know one thing..
About Infochimps
Infochimps was founded by data scientists and
“Time and resource requirements”... “It cloud computing experts with the belief that by
effectively leveraging Big Data, enterprises make
takes time to interact with data”...“the
better decisions. The company’s solutions make
time it takes to normalize data so that it
it faster, easier and far less complex to build and
can be analyzed properly”... “That it has manage Big Data projects and quickly deliver
inertia, and structural changes don't actionable insights. With the Infochimps Enterprise
happen quickly”...“time to put in place”... Cloud, companies benefit from the fastest way
“time to develop”... “Time and effort to deploy Big Data environments in public, virtual
required”... “This will take more time not private and private clouds. Infochimps is a privately
held, venture-backed company with offices in
more people”... “Time”... “nothing is fast”
Austin, TX and the Silicon Valley.

10. Contact Us
Infochimps, Inc
1214 W 6th St. Suite 202
Austin, TX 78703
1-855-DATA-FUN (1-855-328-2386)
www.infochimps.com
info@infochimps.com
Twitter: @infochimps
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