Petabyte, exabyte, zettabyte, yottabyte—some analysts predict it won’t be long before we’re talking about the brontobyte. With massive amounts of structured and unstructured data flowing through organizations at alarming rates it’s no wonder CIOs have placed advanced analytics at the top of their to-do lists. In the simplest sense, advanced analytics is the most direct way to ford these Big Data rivers to get to the information businesses need to make their best decisions.
Recent research—conducted by the International Institute for Analytics (IIA) and sponsored by Dell Services—reported that 71 percent of the firms contacted indicated their company is actively using or has near-term plans to use analytics in everyday decision-making. But only 5 percent of companies using advanced analytics report actually using the high-volume or high-velocity data commonly associated with Big Data. Instead, the majority of firms seem to have their hands full with their own internal, “small” data. It’s not as if enterprises don’t want to use Big Data, but the research suggests there’s some prioritization that needs to happen regarding how firms should best proceed.
“Companies and leaders across industries are at a tipping point. We’re seeing our customers place a higher priority on using advanced analytics to execute on their digital business models," said Raman Sapra, executive director and global head of Dell Digital Business Services. “Ultimately, business leaders want to develop digital business models that enable them to attract, serve, and retain customers in the digital era. Advanced analytics provides that actionable insight that enables their transformation.”
The research was commissioned in order to study the advanced analytics landscape in the U.S. The findings included an assessment of advanced analytical maturity, trends and usage as well as how projects among mid-market and enterprise organizations are being executed. Survey respondents indicated a variety of stakeholders are involved, with CIOs and departmental business decision makers taking the lead. The research also found that—relative to company size—organizations are willing to invest significant resources in analytics programs. Two-thirds of mid-market organizations are investing more than $100,000 this year and a slightly smaller 63 percent of enterprise organizations are investing at least $500,000.
In total, the findings highlight an opportunity for businesses in all industries to determine how they plan to use advanced analytics to improve business results.
At Dell, we’re focused on helping customers transform and modernize for the future. As a digital and social pioneer, Dell has shaped its own offerings into Digital Business Services that enable companies to transform their businesses to adopt digital business models through technologies such as analytics, social media, mobile and cloud.