Poll: Big data projects not answering business questions

A third of companies are getting involved in big data but most do not know why

An EMC survey has suggested that a third of companies may be getting involved in big data implementations although a whopping 80 per cent have failed to quantify the potential business benefits.

The survey of 300 execs at UK organisations was carried out by the Big Data Insight Group and looked at how organisations perceive and are using big data thus far.

Emma Taylor, founder and managing director of Big Data Insight Group, said: "The research suggests companies are currently engaged in experiments or piloting activities, rather than real business projects. Furthermore, these are currently concentrated within silos of technical teams, without the buy-in of business departments such as marketing, finance and product development that ultimately stand to benefit.

"It is positive, though, that while big data is still an immature market, it is very much on the radar of organisations of all shapes and sizes."

Other findings were that 50 per cent of respondents were researching the potential for big data in one form or another, although nearly half of respondents had left the responsibility for big data initiatives to the IT department.

Only a quarter indicated they believed they would need to hire new staff to execute big data strategy, the survey suggested.

Half of the poll respondents use just their existing business intelligence (BI) tools for their analytics and another 15 per cent choose to rely on new, specific big data tools. About 35 per cent use a combination of both.