Big Data is getting even bigger, according to the results of a recent IDG Enterprise survey of over 750 IT decision makers. Nearly half of respondents say they're implementing big data projects, or are planning to. This represents a 5% increase over last year.
More than 20% report that their projects have already improved both the quality and speed of decision-making, and 59% said that improving decision-making quality was the top goal for these projects. Some 53% deemed making quicker decisions the primary driver.
That's not to say these projects are without challenges. Nearly 40% cited the skill shortage -- finding the right people -- as a top challenge to their big data initiatives, an issue that stayed the same across all sizes of company. Only 18% currently employ a data scientist, but 27% said they plan to hire for the position over the next 12 to 18 months.
Other key findings include:
- 20% plan to spend between $1 million and $10 million on big data projects in the next year; another 9% will invest $10 million or more.
- Larger companies report they manage an average of 291 Tbytes of data, while smaller companies average 57 Tbytes.
- Budgetary limitations top the list of challenges, with 44% citing fiscal constraints as a big issue.
- IT-led projects are the norm, with 90% saying that an IT executive, leader or manager is in charge of big data projects at their organization, with 36% saying that executive business leaders are also involved.
Download the five-page executive summary (PDF) of the report now.