Big Data investment is up, for how long?

Big Data investments continue to rise but are showing signs of contracting, according to a recent survey by Gartner.

The survey reveala that 48% of companies have invested in big data in 2016, up 3% from 2015. However, those who plan to invest in big data within the next two years fell from 31 to 25% in 2016.

“Investment in big data is up, but the survey is showing signs of slowing growth with fewer companies having a future intent to invest,” explains Nick Heudecker, research director at Gartner.

“The big issue is not so much big data itself, but rather how it is used. While organisations have understood that big data is not just about a specific technology, they need to avoid thinking about big data as a separate effort,” he says.

Big data is a collection of different data management technologies and practices that support multiple analytics use cases.

Heudecker says organisations are moving from vague notions of data and analytics to specific business problems that data can address.

“Its success depends on a holistic strategy around business outcomes, skilled personnel, data and infrastructure,” he says.

Getting Big Data Projects to Production Is a Challenge

While nearly three quarters of respondents said that their organisation has invested or is planning to invest in big data, many remain stuck at the pilot stage.