Big Data strategies the topic of Economist survey

The Economist Intelligence Unit conducted a global survey of 373 executives and in-depth interviews with thought leaders about Big Data strategies in 2013 called "Getting More Out of Big Data."

Only 10 percent of the respondents strongly agree they have a defined, documented Big Data strategy, while 35 percent say they somewhat agree and 12 percent say they strongly disagree. Meanwhile, almost one-third strongly agree or somewhat agree that their company has invested 25 percent more in 2012, while 38 percent either somewhat disagree or strongly disagree. However, 44 percent project that their Big Data strategy investment will increase 25 percent over the next three year, while 26 percent either somewhat disagree or strongly disagree.

Looking to the future implementation of a Big Data policy, the most popular plans for deriving insights from data include customer segmentation, 39 percent; external sources such as third-party data providers, 36 percent; surveys, 32 percent; census data, 20 percent; social media analysis, 20 percent; and focus groups, 18 percent.

The top data insights critical to decision-making, according to the survey, are trends, 42 percent; current status, e.g. quality, 41 percent; qualitative, e.g. customer experience, 38 percent; future, e.g. predictive, 32 percent; and real-time, e.g. customer interactions, 30 percent.

Study: Big Data and its strategies defined

IBM and the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School conducted a survey of 1,144 business people from 95 countries across 26 industries to learn about their strategies and opinions about the potential for Big Data in their businesses.

As with all major strategies on the ascendancy, the concept of Big Data may have as many definitions as there are those who attempt to define it. The survey makers narrowed down the descriptions to determine general definitions of Big Data and found that respondents, who were asked to choose two descriptors that best defined the concept, said Big Data was “a greater scope of information” (18 percent), “new kinds of data and analysis” (16 percent), “real-time information” (15 percent), and “data influx from new technologies” (13 percent) and “non-traditional forms of media” (13 percent).

The study corroborates other Big Data studies, showing that the majority of companies surveyed are still in the beginning stages of Big Data development, focused on understanding basic concepts or defining a roadmap for the future. Across the industries studied, the business case is strongly focused on addressing customer-centric objectives, and beginning pilot programmes for Big Data project implementation. The state of Big Data activity among respondents can be broken down into three areas, led by planning Big Data activities, 47 percent; pilot and implementation of Big Data activities, 28 percent; and those that have not begun Big Data activities, 24 percent, according to the survey.

IT architecture is bedrock of Big Data strategy: Report

IBM and the University of Oxford’s Said Business School conducted a survey of 1,144 business people from 95 countries across 26 industries to learn about the companies' strategies and opinions about the potential for Big Data for their businesses. According to the report, IT architecture is the bedrock of a Big Data strategy. “The promise of achieving significant, measureable business value from Big Data can only be realised if organizations put into place an information foundation that supports the rapidly growing volume, variety and velocity of data,” according to the report.
 Respondents rated integrated information as the most important part of Big Data architecture, 65 percent; followed by scalable storage infrastructure, 64 percent; high-capacity warehouse, 59 percent; security and governance, 58 percent; and scripting and developer tools, 54 percent.

Marketers challenged with Big Data math skills

As the marketing world shifts to a heavier technology focus, marketers are finding challenges in keeping up with technical skills and mathematical skills in order to keep up with the challenges of marketing as it intersects Big Data analytics, according to a 2013 study by Adobe and eConsultancy.

That said, there are indications in the study that show marketers are starting to solve their analytics and technology shortfalls from 2012 to 2013. Twenty-nine percent of the respondents in 2012 said their marketing department does not have the technical skills to utilize their technology fully, while only 21 percent said so in 2013.

Meanwhile, 26 percent of the respondents in 2012 said they did not have the mathematical skills to analyse and optimize its marketing programmes, while 21 percent said so in 2013.