In a new study by Capgemini and EMC – over 1,000 senior executives from 10 countries and 9 different industries were interviewed. The results were exciting in that they showed not only how widespread Big Data has become, but also its growing importance for business.
In the study, 56% of the respondents believed that their Big Data investment would increase within the next three years. In addition, 65% of senior executives surveyed had concerns about becoming irrelevant if their companies did not take advantage of their Big Data assets.
However, competition is fierce in the world of Big Data 64% of respondents believe Big Data is allowing non-traditional businesses to encroach on their space, while 53% felt that they are facing fierce competition from data-enabled start-ups. Unfortunately, many businesses are not ready to make the most of Big Data as 47% of respondents said their systems are not optimized to allow decision makers to effectively leverage Big Data to make critical, timely decisions.
The key to success with Big Data is for businesses to not only have access to disparate types of Big Data, but also the ability to use it to derive quick, actionable insights – which would drive faster operational changes, allowing organizations to gain that competitive edge.
Here are some examples of how actionable insights from Big Data can be optimized:
- Stopping traffic jams before they cause major congestion
- Helping shoppers understand their choices and guiding them to make the best decisions
- Improving dialogue between businesses and customers, allowing them to better understand relevant products and services
Some companies are also realizing new revenue streams. They’ve found a market for selling their insights based on Big Data (monetizing Big Data). This allows these companies to recoup some, if not all, of their Big Data investment.
It is clear that companies are finding more relevance with Big Data. The question is, which ones will learn to benefit from Big Data the fastest?