Tuesday 24th September, 2013

According to a recent survey by Gartner, big data investments in 2013 continue to rise, with 64 percent of organisations investing, or planning to invest in big data technology compared with 58 percent in 2012. However, less than eight percent of survey respondents have actually deployed. The survey features input from 720 Gartner Research Circle members worldwide.

Industries leading big data investments in 2013 are media and communications, banking, and services. Thirty-nine percent of media and communications organisations said that they have already invested in big data, followed by banking organisations and services firms.

Whilst transportation, healthcare and insurance have planned investments during the next two years. However, every vertical industry again shows big data investment and planned investment.

From a regional point of view, North America continues to lead investments with (38 percent) of organisations surveyed. Asia/Pacific organisations were notably ambitious indicating that they plan to invest during the next two years.

Regardless of geography, investment typically has different stages that organisations go through. It starts with knowledge gathering, followed by strategy setting.

The survey revealed that there are a wide range of business problems being addressed using big data, although there are some clear patterns.

Just as big data priorities are changing, Gartner has observed that big data challenges shift with organisational maturity in information management, especially handling big data. Organisations are struggling most this year with knowing how to get value from big data.

"It is interesting to note that understanding 'what is big data' is the top challenge for 15 percent of organisations," said Nick Huedecker, research director at Gartner. "Perhaps unsurprisingly, this concern came mainly from respondents with 'no plans to invest."