IT Staffing Report: Sept. 26, 2013

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Interest growing in big data, Gartner finds

Companies have plans for big data. A survey by Gartner Inc. found that 64 percent of companies worldwide plan to invest in big data this year, up from 58 percent last year. However, less than 8 percent have deployed it.

“The hype around big data continues to drive increased investment and attention, but there is real substance behind the hype,” said Lisa Kart, research director at Gartner. “Our survey underlines the fact that organizations across industries and geographies see ‘opportunity’ and real business value rather than the ‘smoke and mirrors’ with which hypes usually come.”

Gartner surveyed 720 Gartner Research Circle members worldwide in June 2013 to gauge their thoughts on big data.

It also found that 30 percent of firms have already invested in big data technology, 19 percent plan to invest within the next year and 15 percent plan to invest within two years.

Industries leading the big data investments in 2013 include media and communications, banking and services. The survey found 39 percent of media and communications firms have already invested in big data. Banking followed at 34 percent and services firms came next at 32 percent.

North American companies led the field in investment in big data with 38 percent saying they have invested in technology specifically designed to address the big data challenge.