Organisations are 'getting off the fence' on big data

Latest report from Gartner says seven in 10 firms are investing or plan to invest in big data

According to a report released by Gartner today, 73 per cent of organisations are investing, or plan to invest, in big data - a seven per cent rise on 2013.

The worldwide survey found that companies are now beginning to "get off the fence" on big data, with the number of organisations with no plans for big data falling from 31 per cent in 2013 to 24 per cent in 2014.

The report also found that organisations with big-data projects deployed to production increased from eight per cent in 2013 to 13 per cent in 2014.

Nick Heudecker, research director at Gartner, said: "Last year, we said 2013 was big data's year of experimentation and early deployment. This has increased to 13 per cent in 2014, and while still relatively small, represents a sizeable increase."

According to Gartner, big-data investment continues to be led by North America where 47 per cent of organisations reported investments, a nine per cent jump on 2013.

Lisa Kart, research director at Gartner, said: "Big data can help address a wide range of business problems across many industries and for the third year in our study, both enhancing the customer experience and improving process efficiency are the top areas to address."