Gartner Study Reveals Big Data Investments Are Growing, But Fewer Organizations Plan to Spend

 

Gartner, the world leader in unbiased technology research and advice, says investments in Big Data continue to increase but show signs of contraction according to its recent studies. Research carried out by the company reveals that 48% of companies invested in Big Data in 2016, an increase of 3% compared to 2015. However, the number of organizations planning to invest in Big Data in the next two years decreased from 31% to 25% in the same period . The online survey was conducted in June 2016 among members of the Gartner Research Cycle. In total, 199 members participated and shared their investment plans.
 
"Investment in Big Data is increasing, but the study shows signs of a slowdown in this growth, with fewer companies intending to invest in Big Data in the future. It is not about Big Data itself, but how it is used. organizations have understood that Big Data is not just about a specific technology, they need to avoid thinking about it as a separate effort," explains Nick Heudecker, Research Director at Gartner.
           
Big Data is a collection of different technologies and data management practices that allow the use of multiple forms of Analytics. Organizations are moving away from vague notions of data and analytics and moving towards solving specific business problems that data can address. "Its success depends on a holistic strategy around business results, expert staff, data and infrastructure," adds Heudecker.
 
Realizing Big Data projects is a challenge
           
While nearly 75% of respondents said their organization has invested or plans to invest in Big Data, many remain stuck in the pilot phase. Only 15% of companies reported actually deploying their Big Data project, a rate that has barely changed compared to 2015 (14%).
          
 "One explanation for this is that Big Data projects seem to be getting less priority in budgets than competing IT initiatives," says Heudecker. Only 11% of respondents from organizations that have already invested in Big Data rated this investment as as or more important than other IT initiatives, while 46% said it was less important.
          
 "This could be due to the fact that many Big Data projects do not have a tangible Return on Investment (ROI) that can be determined in advance. Another reason could be that the Big Data initiative is part of a a larger funded project. This will become more common as the term 'Big Data' weakens and the standard continues to be dealing with larger datasets of varying types," explains Heudecker.
            
Another factor to consider is the lack of effective business leadership or involvement in data initiatives. Tests and experiments are often built with ad-hoc technologies and infrastructure that are not built with production-grade reliability in mind.
           
"When it comes to Big Data, many organizations are still in the construction phase. The industrialization and performance and stability guarantees that come with this technology have yet to penetrate the way of thinking about Big Data", adds Jim Hare, Director of Gartner Surveys.