Survey find big data has benefits, complexities
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Big data is a relatively new phenomenon sweeping the IT industry, but its impact is significant. Businesses unprepared to deal with these massive data sets can become overwhelmed or, even worse, experience issues that may end up impacting their database performance. A recent survey of business and IT decision-makers by IT nonprofit CompTIA found that less than 40 percent of participants are somewhat or very familiar with the concept of big data.
"As expected for an emerging technology with an evolving definition, many executives are still moving along the big data learning curve," said CompTIA Research Vice President Tim Herbert.
The survey also found that approximately 20 percent of executives said their organizations currently have a big data initiative in place. Another 36 percent of respondents said their firms plan to undertake such a strategy in the next 12 months.
"Not every business will need a big data strategy," Herbert said. "But just about every business will need to effectively aggregate, store, manage and analyze the data they do have, regardless of its volume, velocity or variety."
Herbert also noted that many businesses still must attain certain technology benchmarks before they are ready to handle big data. As it stands, some companies are struggling with storage, backup, business continuity and analytics.
Majority of businesses addressing big data
A separate survey of more than 600 organizations conducted by Jaspersoft also found that many firms are addressing big data throughout their operations. Of those polled, 62 percent have already deployed or have plans in place to launch big data initiatives in the next 12 months.
Some companies, however, simply lack the necessary knowledge to deal with big data in an effective manner. The survey found that 35 percent of participants said their current understanding of big data is their main barrier.
Jaspersoft also found that businesses are using big data for a variety of needs. Nearly 50 percent said they are leveraging big data for customer experience analytics, followed by customer analytics, marketing campaigns, financial risk analysis and marketing competitive analysis.
Brian Gentile, Jaspersoft CEO, said the firm is surprised by how quickly the big data market has matured. In fact, a variety of industries have identified big data as crucial to their operations. Paired with cloud computing, the two technologies offer companies improved cost-efficiency.
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