Who’s Buying Into Big Data? It’s Not Who You Might Think

In any fast-moving technological field, there’s going to be a fairly wide distribution between those who believe the hype and push its adoption, and those who move forward cautiously. But according to a new report from Teradata, the “perception gap” for big data is quite large and is hurting organization’s ability to take advantage of data analytics.

In a new report called “The Virtuous Cycle of Big Data,” Teradata says it’s none other than the chief executives who are wearing rose-colored glasses when it comes to big data. CEOs are more likely than others to be the big drivers of data initiatives at their companies, while their charges are less apt to be big believers.

Teradata had some stats to share, from the survey, which was conducted by The Economist’s Intelligence Unit, namely:

• 47 percent of CEOs believe employees have access to the data they need, compared to only 27 percent of all respondents;
• 43 percent of CEOs think relevant data is being captured and made available in real time, compared to only 29 percent of all respondents;
• 38 percent of CEOs think employees extract relevant insights from data, compared to only 24 percent of all respondents.

From Teradata’s perspective, narrowing this “perception gap” is critical for companies to achieve their data initiatives. The fact that CEOs are buying into the value of the new data paradigm is good, but this belief needs to extend down from the corner suite to other executive leaders, VPs, and mid-level managers and directors as well.

The rapid adoption of big data technologies the last couple of years has definitely made a mark. A full two-thirds of Fortune 1000 companies have big data initiatives running in production, according to a NewVantage Partners survey conducted last fall. That’s up from 32 percent in 2013, a remarkable period of growth. (When you dive further into the numbers, you will see that Hadoop adoption, in particular, is relatively light, but there are many other forms of data analytics that are seeing widespread adoption.)

There’s no single script to follow with big data, and companies are taking different approaches to adopting the spectrum of big data technologies and the business process advantages it can deliver. Certain patterns have emerged, however. The Economist, for instance, noticed that new big data initiatives often follow begin with companies adopting technologies and tools. Next they focus on talent and expertise. Only then do they turn their attention to working on creating a strong data-centric culture.

This cycle should be turned around, the Economist says with a focus on creating a data-centric culture being the first step. C-level executives are critical to establishing that culture, which includes being receptive to being wrong and “being committed to discovering the truth through data and facts,” the report says.

“There is no substitute for a corporate leader who has found religion in data and analytics,” Russell Glass, head of marketing products at LinkedIn, is quoted as saying in the report, which was sponsored by Teradata and is available for download at virtuouscircleofdata.eiu.com.

While C-level buy-in of big data is important, getting bottom-up engagement is critical to the successful and widespread adoption of a data-centric culture, The Economist finds. There are several ways to close this “perception gap,” including making data universally available to more employees, investing in training, creating compensation incentives, and making data analytics fun and social.

Internal data is often readily accessible, but companies report having trouble getting external data, such as customer demographics, behavioral patterns, and market data. And then actually converting that data into actionable insights is also a major barrier, Teradata.

The rewards for establishing a data-centric culture are clear. Among the survey respondents who say their companies “significantly” or “somewhat” outperform their competitors in terms of profitability, 63 percent say their data initiatives are launched and driven by corporate leadership and 41 percent have a centralized data and analytics group. The same numbers for companies who underperform in profitability are 38 percent and 28 percent, respectively.

Big data initiatives are impacting many parts of businesses. Specifically, The Economist notes correlations between adopting a data-centric culture and several important business metrics, including knowledge sharing, risk management, group collaboration, decision making, execution, and employee satisfaction.

“The survey is clear that organizations succeed when the data-driven vision and leadership are shared, and the benefits of data initiatives are consistently tracked, promoted, and most importantly, linked to corporate goals and business results,” said Chris Twogood, vice president of products and services marketing at Teradata.

The Economist’s survey drew on 362 responses from executives around the world last September and October, including 170 from North America, 94 from Asia-Pacific, 82 from Western Europe and 16 from Eastern Europe. Respondents represent a range of industries and company sizes.

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