Lack of experts and know-how biggest hurdle for Big Data

Although most companies are planning to invest in products and solutions for the use of big data, a lack of resources and expertise often prevents them from gaining in-depth insights.

The Big Data Survey is based on a survey conducted in the second half of 2012 among companies in the largest European software markets, including Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and the UK.

Barc used an online questionnaire to survey 274 decision-makers from IT and other specialist departments in companies of various sectors and sizes. The survey shows that companies are aware of the potential value of big data and recognize the challenges.

72% of respondents considered it important to keep the exponentially growing volumes of data under control. In the eyes of the study participants, the biggest drivers for big data are the new and improved possibilities for data analysis that big data technologies bring with them (75%).

Two thirds of respondents (66%) have already recognized the added value of so-called polystructured data from various sources such as social media, sensors or weblogs. The participants in the study who see no urgent need for action when it comes to big data are clearly in the minority at seven percent.

According to the survey, companies based in Europe have not only identified the greatest challenges in dealing with big data, they are also prepared to make investments in order to carry out analyses using new technologies.

The participants in the study stated that the largest part of the big data budget is spent on software, followed by hardware and consulting services. Interestingly, the companies that say they use their data most efficiently are not the ones that spend the most on big data technologies.

Instead, the companies that consider themselves to be laggards in terms of their data usage are planning above-average investments in the three areas mentioned above. This could indicate that they are aware of their need for action and want to catch up with the competition in terms of data usage.

Another result of the study is that 27 percent of a company's data for reporting, monitoring and analysis is updated once a month, while 45 percent of company data is updated daily.

On average, however, only four percent of data is available in near-real time, i.e. within less than five seconds. According to the study, there is a clear trend towards updates at shorter intervals.