Jan 2, 2013

Survey Gauges Big Data Readiness in Big Biz.

Over the next two years, big data, cloud, and mobile collaborative technologies is said to have an adoption rate of over 20 percent, according to recent survey from Software AG. The software management company carried out the survey during the ProcessWorld 2012 event in Florida. “The simultaneously adoption of these technologies is significantly changing the way enterprises do business and accelerating the reaction of enterprises to changing customer and market behavior,” said Software AG in a company release. When asked to identify the technologies that will open business opportunities for companies, over 20 percent of respondents said the management of big data and collaborative work practices. Additionally, over 30 percent said cloud and mobile applications and over 40 percent said business process management. According to Software AG CTO Wolfram Jost, the need for “faster, better informed business decisions” is what’s driving the adoption of these technologies. However, Jost also notes that while these technologies help businesses, “the real-time data, rapid scalability, and fast decision making enabled by these technologies are of little use if companies still take months or years to implement business process change.” Overall, Software AG says the impact of big data and faster business decisions is extensive. According to the software management company, not only do big data technologies benefit businesses, but it has been estimated that it could save $300 billion each year in the United States healthcare system. Furthermore, EU agencies could cut their bills by $250 billion. Lastly, Software AG notes that “calculations indicated that American companies could increase their operating profit margin in the retail sector by sector by six percent or liquidity in manufacturing by seven percent.” In a related survey conducted by King Research on behalf of Actuate entitled, Big Data Today: How Real is it?, 36 percent of companies with $1 billion plus in revenue are currently working on big data projects. Founder of King Research Ross King said, “34 percent are in the evaluating and planning phase, while 40 percent have not evaluated or have evaluated and plan not to proceed.” King adds, “For the 40 percent who plan not to move forward on a big data project, they stated their major inhibitors were ‘not enough staff with expertise’ and the ‘expected cost of big data initiatives’.” However, for those who did plan to move forward with a big data project, they said the major benefits from big data include “the ability to make better decisions faster, gain competitive advantage, improve efficiency, and improve customer targeting.” “No matter the stage of implementation, this survey shows the concept of big data is here to stay, and brings to the forefront the need for intuitive, powerful BI and analytical tools that can be used by all levels of the organization,” said Nobby Akiha, senior vice president of marketing at Actuate. “As seen in the research, the real challenge is how to distill this massive amount of data into something that’s digestible and meaningful – data that can be used to make qualified decisions.”