Technology & Innovation

Who’s big on big data?

January 16, 2015

North America

January 16, 2015

North America
Janie Hulse

Senior editor

Janie Hulse is a senior editor with The Economist Intelligence Unit's Thought Leadership team. Before joining the EIU, Janie worked with The Economist Group and other organizations as a freelance correspondent and consultant based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has also held managerial roles in the areas of marketing and research with US global companies and within US Government agencies. She holds a master's degree in economic development from the London School of Economics and a bachelor's in industrial relations from Cornell University.

A survey of more than 395 C-level executives, sponsored by Platfora, shows that senior leaders are optimistic about the capabilities of big data, but many still struggle with big data applications.

Report Summary

Executives at the helm of organisations today are experimenting with ways that big data can be used to strategically add business value. A survey of more than 395 C-level executives, sponsored by Platfora, shows that senior leaders are optimistic about the capabilities of big data, but many still struggle with big-data applications.

The majority admit they would like to achieve deeper knowledge of the underlying data-related technologies. This need for better understanding will only grow as the application of big data across a wide array of corporate activities increases beyond customer- facing functions. 

Today, big data tends to be siloed within organisational departments. The survey indicates, however, that executives realise that it should be a shared responsibility, one that is coordinated across the enterprise. 

This executive summary report explores the different C-suite beliefs, priorities and opinions on the subject of big-data analytics.

You can also take our benchmarking tool to see which C-suite role best matches your big data style...

Research methodology 

In September 2014, The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) carried out a global survey of 395 C-level executives with sponsorship from Platfora. The survey sample consists of executives from 18 different industries and is balanced across AsiaPacific (34%), North America (27%), Western Europe (26%) and the rest of the world (13%). About half of respondents’ organisations have annual revenue of more than $500m, of which one in-five report more than $5bn in revenue.

 

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