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 from more sources than ever before does that mean our decision-making is bound to improve?

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BIG
DATA

2. 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?
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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.
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87%

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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?
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5. 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.
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6. 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.
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31% 26%29%
£ £

7. 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 budget is
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.
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8. 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 (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.
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1000-3000
employees
3000+
employees
31%
18%

9. 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 complaints about 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.
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10. 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.
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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.

11. 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.
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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 departments only 1/3 or less have
access to all the tools they would like, with 14%
overall having no departments with access to
all the tools they would like.

13. 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% say departments in their
organisation have rolled out a big data
project without IT support.
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14. 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?
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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,
technology alone will never be enough.

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