Data volume has increased by an average of 86 percent in the last two years, a rate that has left most companies unprepared, according to a new report for Oracle on big data business challenges.
Oracle based its report on the findings from a survey of 333 U.S. and Canadian C-level executives from retail and 10 other industries.
Ninety-percent of those surveyed said that they are collecting and managing more business information today than two years ago, by an average of 98 percent, with the biggest data growth occurring in customer information (43 percent), operations (33 percent) and sales and marketing (30 percent). Greater availability of customer information is spurring the data growth.
But the ability to gather more data isn’t leading to profitability in most instances. Ninety-three percent of the executives believe they are losing revenue at an average of 14 percent annually, according to the survey. Organizations with revenues of $1 billion or more say they are losing approximately 13 percent of their annual revenue as a result of not being able to fully leverage information.
“This study shows that up to 14 percent of a company’s revenue is lost because enterprises are challenged to manage and analyze data, which grows exponentially as we speak. Enterprises can get ahead of the game by using these challenges as catalysts for company-wide strategic change. Through industry-specific applications and technologies, enterprises can transform data into measurable business benefits,” said Oracle President Mark Hurd in a prepared statement.
Survey respondents noted they are frustrated with their organizations’ data gathering and distribution systems. Specifically, 38 percent note they do not have the right systems in place to gather the information they need, 36 percent cannot give their business managers access to pertinent information and need to rely on IT to compile and analyze information and 29 percent feel they are using systems that are not designed to meet the unique needs of their industry.
However, there were significant differences across industries in the ability to handle big data. Executives in the communications industry are most confident in their organizations’ preparedness for the data deluge, with 20 percent giving their organization an “A” rating. The communications, manufacturing and retail industries lose the lowest estimated percentage of additional annual revenue because of their current data management processes – 10 percent.
Executives in the public sector, healthcare and utilities industries are least prepared to handle the data deluge – with 41 percent of public sector executives, 40 percent of healthcare executives and 39 percent of utilities executives giving themselves a “D” or “F” preparedness rating. The oil and gas (22 percent) and life sciences (20 percent) industries lose the greatest estimated percentage of annual revenue due to their current data management processes.
The biggest problems with big data that executives cited were the difficulty in distributing information in a timely manner and issues with translating data into actionable intelligence.
Ninety-seven percent of respondents note their organization must improve information optimization over the next two years. Top priorities include improving the ability to translate information into actionable insight (43 percent), acquiring tools to collect more accurate information (38 percent) and training employees to better make sense of information (38 percent).
According to Oracle, “Big data requires an industry-specific strategy to improve the effectiveness of the operational processes and the overall customer experience.”
Additionally, 64 percent of those surveyed said it is important or business critical for managers to access business information on their mobile devices.
Industry-specific applications are an essential part of the mix, according to the survey. Seventy-seven percent of organizations said they use them today to run their enterprises, and many more indicated that they are looking for more tailored options.