Big Data Equals Big Payoff according to IBM Analytics Study.

There is a wide confusion maintained around the Big Data concept. This confusion well maintained is based on the ‘’Big’’ aspect. According to the partisans of this approach, ‘’Big’’ remains a major issue to solve. But they  are not right  because the ''Big  aspect  is already solved with technology like Hadoop.

Today, Connectikpeople has captured a new IBM Analytics Study in its fifth global examination of the adoption and usage of analytics. Connectikpeople has observed that, a steadily growing number of respondents (more than two-thirds) are applying business analytics to support revenue-generation strategies, versus cost containment.

The IBM Institute for Business Value study, entitled “Analytics: A Blueprint for Value,” found that almost 40 percent of companies see a rapid return on investment

(ROI) , within the first six months of analytics adoption.  

The study also found three essential factors to advance business analytics within organizations: sponsorship trust and skills, and significant gaps in each area. By addressing these gaps, analytics leaders have an opportunity to increase executive advocacy, strengthen trust across the organization, and build deeper knowledge and skills. 

IBM’s study reveals that one-quarter of all Chief Executive Officers (CEO) and Chief Operating Officers (COO), act as the lead advocates for the use of analytic insights (24 percent). This is a 10 percent increase from 2012, but still far from the pervasive leadership required to spark widespread change. Besides the CEO and COO, other C-suite executives such as the CIO and CMO have the power to advance the use of Big Data and analytics across the enterprise. 

In the same study, Connectikpeople can observe that, while about 60 percent of top performers enjoy strong levels of trust among individuals within their organization, the level of trust drops significantly (47 percent) when it is anonymized between business units and IT departments in general. 

‘’A lack of trust among executives, analysts and data managers can significantly impact the willingness to share data, rely on insights and work together to deliver value’’. 

IBM’s study found that a trust gap among individuals is a leading indicator of lack of trust in the veracity of data. When this happens, the overall costs to a business are high.  

‘’For example, a major global banking institution duplicated its data collection efforts from two different sources because banking executives did not trust the work of another team from a different geography, which led them to doubt the authenticity of data’’.

Another factor that is creating a barrier to success with Big Data and analytics is around skills. The gap between the demand for Big Data and analytics talent globally and the supply of talent locally is one of the key obstacles to analytics implementations across all organizations. One-third of respondents cited the lack of skills to analyze and interpret data into relevant business actions as the top business challenge impeding better value analytics within their organizations.

The largest skills gap is the ability to combine analytics skills with business knowledge to draw meaningful insights from the data. The analyst who both understands the business and performs higher mathematic tasks is the most sought after in the market. More than one-third of all respondents (36 percent) cited this as their organization's most pressing skills gap, followed by analytic skills (24 percent), data management skills (21 percent) and business skills (19 percent).

About IBM Big Data & Analytics

Each day we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data generated by a variety of sources -- from climate information, to posts on social media sites, and from purchase transaction records to healthcare medical images. At IBM we believe that Big Data and analytics are a catalyst to help clients become more competitive and drive growth. IBM is helping clients harness this Big Data to uncover valuable insights, and transform their business. IBM has established the world's deepest and broadest portfolio of Big Data and analytics technologies and solutions, spanning services, software, research and hardware. For more information about IBM Big Data & Analytics, visit www.ibmbigdatahub.com.