Following the Analytics Investment Trail

Most spending on analytics is driven by CIOs, line-of-business executives and dedicated analyst staff, rather than a mandate from the corporate board, according to a new survey of 137 business and IT executives conducted by International Institute for Analytics on behalf of Dell. Although there is already significant reliance on relatively simple forms of analytics, investment in big data platforms to drive advanced analytics applications is still relatively immature, respondents said. "While a well-developed analytics program is perceived to be strategically important, most indicate there is still room for them to advance their firm's maturity level. … Not surprisingly, enterprise organizations perceive their maturity level to be a bit higher than midmarket firms do," the report said. The study points to a correlation between the degree of maturity and having more senior-level executives involved in developing their analytics programs. The good news is that the number of organizations and the amount of money spent on analytics overall will increase considerably in the year ahead.