Big Data Shows Big Promise, Despite Some Growing Pains

Big Data

The Big Data Priority

With 77% of the respondents making big data analytics a priority, the opportunity for the channel is ripe.

Big Data Channel Sweet Spot

The biggest single segment making big data analytics a high priority was companies with 100 to 999 employees at 57%.

Big Data Organizational Benefits

A full 74% of respondents said big data would make information more transparent while 72% said big data would improve speed and accuracy of decision-making.

Additional Big Data Drivers

Real-time data access (65%), timely integration of data (63%), quicker determination of when changes are needed (63%) and automated decision-making (61%) are significant big data drivers.

The Big Data Business Case

Improving speed and reducing complexity was the dominant reason to invest in big data (62%), followed by customer retention (50%).

Big Data Projects Under Way

A full 71% report they have started at least one big data project or plan to in the next 12 months. But only 29% are in an actual early stage of deployment. Most of the smaller companies surveyed are still investigating the big data opportunity.

Top Three Big Data Challenges

Big data project and management costs tops the list, followed by how to scale the environment and, then, the integration of data and applications.

Sizing the Big Data Opportunity

Almost half (46%) say they are managing 10TB or more per month while 21% say they are managing 100TB of data a month.

Big Data Growth Rates

Survey respondents say they expect data volume to grow 45% over next two years, and 10% say data volumes will more than double.

Types of Big Data Being Used

Nearly 40% report they are using semi-structured data, social networking data and structured e-commerce data in combination.

Types of Big Data Systems Being Used

Only 32% plan to acquire purpose-built systems for big data, while 37% plan to use or are using commodity hardware. The vast majority plan to increase use of in-house systems.

Big Data Technologies Under Consideration

Analytical databases top the list at 44%, followed by business intelligence tools and relational databases, at 41% each.

Big Data Scalability Challenges

With 43% looking for easier big data tools to use and another 41% in need of more network bandwidth, there are significant additional big data opportunities for the channel.

Where the Data Warehouses Are Located

65% of companies with 1,000 or more employees use an enterprise data warehouse to house their data while 43% of companies with 100 to 199 employees use a vendor database.

No Vendor Dominates the Category

Only one vendor (IBM, with 12%) received more than 10% of the responses when customers were asked which vendor they were working with, and 43% said they were not working with any vendor.