Having Difficulty Taking Advantage of Your Big Data? You’re Not Alone, Study Finds

The first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem. Last week KPMG released the findings of a survey of 144 CFOs and CIOs at large enterprises. And while some of the findings show that most enterprises are far away from realizing Big Data nirvana, it also shows that many organizations are on the road to recovery.

The problem:

• 96 percent of respondents admit that they could do more with Big Data and make better use of analytics in their organization.
• 54 percent said their greatest barrier to success was an inability to identify the data worth collecting.
• 85 percent of companies also found it difficult to implement the correct solution to accurately analyze and interpret their existing data.
• 75 percent admitted that they experience difficulty making decisions with data.

The promise:

• 56 percent believe the benefits gleaned from the untapped data could be significant.
• 69 percent see data analytics as either crucial or very important to their business.

The road to recovery:

• 56 percent altered their strategies to meet the challenges of Big Data, including increasing their capacity to analyze the data.
• 53 percent have upgraded IT systems to better integrate data and analytics into their businesses.
• 51 percent have also improved their data collections processes.
• 45 percent have trained managers on how to use data in their decision making, while 39 percent have trained analysts and data scientists.
• 38 percent have recruited analysts and data scientists, while 28 percent have contracted with external consultants or suppliers.

The Big Data hype is everywhere – with expectations that Big Data will revolutionize everything. But for large enterprises, reality is starting to set in – the first steps toward adopting Big Data are turning out to be the most difficult. Many CIOs are on the right track with their investments, but the payoffs may still be years away.