Who owns big data in your business?

In the last few years, big data has been discussed a lot in the IT industry, and - if what we’ve recently discovered is true - it appears it's not just the IT department that is now seeing the many benefits it can bring to the business.

Keen to find out how much strategy was involved in big data projects, and where it was being implemented within the business, Rackspace recently surveyed 501 Australian decision-makers. We discovered that almost half (48%) of Australian business leaders believe their organisation understands big data, but only just over a quarter (28%) have put a strategy in place.

Our research also found that while many companies are still trying to get their heads around big data, individual departments are pushing ahead with plans without involving the IT department.

We found that although the IT department most commonly leads the day-to-day big data strategy, over one third (36%) of business departments with a strategy (141 companies out of 501 surveyed) are not consulting, or only partially consulting, them on big data projects.

The marketing department tends to be the most common to run a big data project - more than half (54%) of ‘rogue’ projects in companies with a strategy in place are led by this team.

In addition to this, while the majority of people we spoke to that have a strategy in place said that their big data strategy encompassed the whole organisation, just over a fifth (22%) said that individual departments have taken on their own initiatives.

Encouragingly, organisations that do have a big data strategy in place (28%) believe it to be effective. Eighty-eight per cent feel that their organisation and its departments work together to produce effective big data outcomes, while 87% said that their big data strategy is aligned with their business outcomes and is adding value to the bottom line.

Big data delivers benefits across the business and to all departments, whether it’s gaining insights and planning effectively, receiving feedback and delivering better customer service or providing a more streamlined and productive working environment.

What’s key is to ensure your business knows who is leading big data, and that they have a suitable strategy in place.

Note: Pure Profile was commissioned by Rackspace to perform the research in May 2014. The survey questioned 501 Australian business decision-makers at director level or above. Of the sample, 49% were a partner/principal owner, 28% C-level, 21% director, 2% vice president. Companies ranged in size from 1 to 1000+ employees.

Image courtesy r2hos under CC