Big Data Initiatives High Priority for Enterprises but Majority Will Face Implementation Challenges

FRAMINGHAM, MA--(Marketwire - Nov 8, 2012) - IDG Enterprise -- the media company comprising of Computerworld, InfoWorld, Network World, CIO, DEMO, CSO, CIO Executive Council, ITworld, CFOworld and CITEworld -- releases the results from the 2012 IDG Enterprise Big Data research which delves into big data strategies and challenges as adoption increases. The research highlights big data initiatives as a high/critical priority for 59% of enterprise organizations (1,000+ employees) and 48% of small/medium (SMB) organizations ( < 1,000 employees). As a new technology trend, challenges are anticipated, in fact 60% of IT executives believe big data integration will be very/extremely challenging.

For this study, big data was defined as large volumes of a wide variety of data collected from various sources across the enterprise. Respondents indicated that the amount of data being managed per organization will increase by an average of 53% in the coming 12 to 18 months from 194.4TB to 296.7TB. The top sources contributing to this growth are customer databases, emails and word documents.

"The volume, variety and velocity of data is challenging organizations to quickly put a strategy in place to analyze, predict and monetize the value of data," said Bob Melk, SVP, group publisher & CMO, IDG Enterprise. "This research outlines how organizations are addressing this imperative and what solution areas IT decision-makers are investing in including data analytics, mining, warehousing, predictive analytics and visualization."

Big Data Adoption and Objectives Driving Investment

While respondents agree that big data initiatives are a high/critical priority, the big data trend is still in the early stages of adoption. Currently, 14% have already deployed/implemented big data projects and an additional 44% are in the process of implementing or planning to do so in the future. The speed of adoption aligns with the reliance organizational stakeholders have with the analytics big data can provide, which explains why CEOs (47%) are the number one supporter of big data initiatives. Organizations have multiple expectations driving big data investments, including: improving the quality of decision-making (52%), increasing speed of decision-making (47%), improving planning and forecasting (44%), customer retention (43%) and developing new products/services and revenue streams (42%).

Big Data Adoption Challenges

Organizations are facing numerous challenges with big data initiatives, with the average respondent citing more than five challenges, including: limited budget (45%), legacy issues (36%), security issues (34%), development time (34%) and growing demand on storage capacity/infrastructure (32%). Additionally, IT executives (42%) are concerned about identifying business areas and processes where big data can have the greatest impact, compared to 28% of line of business (LOB) employees. On the other hand LOB employees (47%) are concerned about making sure the human capital exists within the company are capable of supporting big data initiatives, compared to 32% of IT executives, which demonstrates a disconnect.

"There are so many possibilities to exploit data for business advantage, however like the majority of edge technologies security is a key concern," said Melk. "The top focus for managing data security is protecting data from theft and misuse and controlling access to data sets. For now, 58% of organizations are storing sensitive data on-premise and not using cloud technology; however as cloud technologies mature, I anticipate a migration to cloud models."

To mitigate these challenges, organizations are laying the ground work to manage big data initiatives, with more than a third of respondents investing in additional server hardware, developing or buying software applications and network bandwidth. Additionally, appropriate staffing and skill sets are a necessity for big data investments. While most organizations have data base programmers (62%), business analysts (56%), engineers (51%) and data analysts (47%), organizations are planning to hire data architects (30%) and data analysts (29%).

Key findings include:

• Organizations are facing challenges with big data implementations, especially enterprise organizations given the exponential data growth rate compared to SMB organizations.
• Big data is in the early stages of adoption with 44% of respondents in the process of implementation or planning to do so in the future.
• CEOs are focused on the value of big data and are partnering with IT executives who will purchase/management/execute on the strategies.
• Organizations are facing numerous challenges with big data initiatives and limited budgets tops the list.
• Organizations are investing in additional sever hardware, developing or buying software applications and network bandwidth in preparation for big data initiatives.
• In the next 12-18 months, organizations plan to invest in skill sets necessary for big data deployments, including data architects (30%), data analysts (29%), database programmers (26%), directors or managers of analytics (26%) and research analysts (26%).
• More than half (53%) of respondents indicated there is no clear thought leader in the big data solution space.

Continue the Big Data Conversation

To learn more about analyzing, predicting and monetizing data and to engage with IT decision-makers, thought leaders and solution providers, attend or sponsor Computerworld's Data+: Analyze, Predict, Monetize event, September 8-10, 2013 at the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Gainey Ranch, Arizona.

To receive the complete research results or learn more about sponsoring Computerworld's Data+ conference contact Bob Melk at bmelk@idgenterprise.com. 

About the IDG Enterprise Big Data Research
IDG Enterprise's 2012 Big Data research was conducted online among the audiences of six IDG Enterprise brands -- Computerworld, InfoWorld, Network World, CIO, CSO and ITworld -- via online and email invitations, between June 25, 2012 and July 18, 2012 with the goal of gaining a better understanding of organizations' big data initiatives, investments and strategies. All respondents are involved in at least one of the following steps in the purchase process of IT or security products and services: evaluation, recommending/selecting vendors, determining requirements, determining the business need, approval/authorization, or selling internally. Additionally, the majority of questions were completed by more than 800 respondents have already deployed or plan to deploy big data initiatives.

About IDG Enterprise
IDG Enterprise, an International Data Group (IDG) company, brings together the leading editorial brands (Computerworld, InfoWorld, Network World, CIO, DEMO, CSO, CIO Executive Council, ITworld, CFOworld and CITEworld) to serve the information needs of our technology and security-focused audiences. As the premier hi-tech B2B media company, we serve our reader and advertiser audiences by delivering award-winning content, community, conversation, and conversion solutions across our entire portfolio of award-winning websites, events, magazines, products and services. In addition, the CIO Executive Council is a peer advisory service that delivers on the business, technology, and leadership needs for the world's elite CIOs and their respective staffs.

Company information is available at www.idgenterprise.com.