‘If Organizations are Not into Big Data, They Better Shut Shop in the Next 5 Years'

HDS partnered with Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and surveyed over 500 executives across Asia Pacific, from a range of industries. Some 69% of respondents were from companies with over US$500m in annual revenues.Importantly the survey respondents are a mix of senior and frontline managers responsible for decisions about big data strategy within their organisations.

What are the key concerns that most executives express regarding Big Data?

Some of the key concerns are: the benefits in implementing a Big Data strategy, the costs involved, the RoI, and the time period for generating those returns.

What is the adoption rate of Big Data across geographies?

Big data has become a ubiquitous phrase in recent years.And businesses now have the ability to collect incredible information about their customers, and managers recognise the need to analyse it carefully. But accross different geographies and industries, the adoption of big data technologies and strategies has been far from uniform. The survey results show that almost half of the firms surveyed in Asia Pacific beleive that Big Data can improve revenue by 25% or more, with HDS projecting a potential US$250 billion revenue increase among more than 500 companies surveyed accross asia, whic is very significant. However, more than half of firms have made little or no progress in their big data strategies.

What does Big Data mean to different industries?

Big data means different things to different industries. In-dustries with different skills need to understand their market and customers and internal requirements, so that they can actually get the insight that their organization is lookingfor and what is the technology that allows to extrat that.

Which industry can benefit the most from big data?

Big Data is for everybody and for every industry and it is just not about revenue, it's about productivity, profitabilityand the invasion. In the survey, 70% of people belive that it is a comercial reality to increase revenue, productivity,profitability and invasion. However, telecommunications, retail and financial service are leaders in recognizing that big data can greatly improve their understanding ofcustomer needs.

What are the barriers of adoption to Big Data?

Their is no one single factor that's stoping this. The reasons for slow adoption of big data strategies arediverse. Respondents of the survey cited poor internal communication and information sharing as well as a lack of in-house skills and software. Nearly two-fifths said their company's big data strategy has not been well communicated. The limited take-up also flies in the face ofthe wider belief that effective use of data matters. More than three-quarters believed it is critical to success. So fundamently top one is lack of in- house skills.

What's your advice or vision for bussinesses on big data?

Our vision is for businesses of all shapes and sizes to use advanced technologies to realize the value of their organization's data. Members of the IT department need to be involved in the business planning cycle much earlier and more tightly integrated to the business in order to deliver essential information and insights to the people who can use it to drive business innovation and realize incremental income.

What are the key things businesses should know about big data in the Asia-Pacific region?

- Adoption is slower that you would expect: More than half of firms have made little or no progress in their bigdata strategies.

- Internal issues are inhibiting adoption; 91 % of companies cite internal issues as barriers to big dictat adoption.

- Frontline employees can't access the data they need: 81% of emplyees say that critical data resources are not available to them.

- Many believe in the benefits of data analytics; almost half of firm believe big data can improve revenue by 25% or more.