April 2013

Managing EditorGeorge Hill

PresidentJosie King

Head of AdvertisingPip Curtis

Marketing Deanna Notice

Content EditorChris Palmer

Editorial Board & Contributors

Tom DeutschChris TowersDavid Barton

Damien DemajRandy BeanPaul Barth

Heather JamesKatie Bilton

Jing Jia

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CONTENTS LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

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Welcome to this issue of Big Data Innovation. The pace of growth in big data has not relented as we have moved further into 2013, and predictions that growth would slow seem to have been wide of the mark. This is great, because all of us here still think that this is one of the fastest growing and in-novative industries to be a part of. In this issue we discuss the ways in which big data could change in the future, with a special editorial discussing various possibilities in addi-tion to Chris Towers looking at the role that quantum com-puting may play in the future of data collection and analysis. Tom Deutsch also gives us an in depth industry perspective on how the perceived skills gap is affecting the industry. Randy Bean and Paul Barth also release the findings from their recent big data survey. With Big Data moving in-creasingly into varied usages, Damien Demaj also breaks down the data he collected using Spatio-Temporal collec-tion during the Andy Murray and Roger Federer gold medal match during the olympics.All this, plus an interview with Simon Thompson make this a great edition. We hope you enjoy this issue and if you like it, share it!

GEORGE HILLCHIEF EDITOR

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Big Data Goes Quantum - p.4Chris Towers looks at what effect quantum computing will have on Big Data in the future

Big Data in Corporate America - p.8Randy Bean and Paul Barth share the results of a recent survey around big data usage in US corporations

The Day Data in Healthcare Went Big - p.11David Barton looks at February 19, the day that big data went big in healthcare

How Real is the Big Data Gap? - p.14Tom Deutsch investigates the big data skills gap and

whether it exists

Big Data in Tennis - p.16Damien Demaj using spatial analytics to investigate the Andy Murray vs Roger Federer Olympics final

Interview With Simon Thompson - p.21George Hill speaks to BT’s head researcher about the changing role of data in companies and how it’s best utilized

WANT TO SEE YOURSELF HERE?

HAVE AN IDEA?

Commentary on the topic of Big Data can be found far and wide these days. Howev-

er, it was barely 24 months ago when the term was largely unknown to business and technol-ogy executives alike. Data was often viewed as a domain inhabited by PhD statisticians, com-puter scientists and market researchers, despite Fortune 1000 corporations and Federal agencies having engaged in data-driven activities such as analytics, predictive modeling, database mar-keting and business intelligence for the bet-ter part of several decades.In response to this surge of interest, we sought to ask the most senior executive decision-makers – C-suite and func-tional business line heads -- with direct responsibility, owner-ship and influence on data initiatives and investments for Fortune 1000 firms and Federal agencies. The sur-vey was conducted during the summer of 2012, with fol-low on detailed discussions and briefings taking place through the end of the year. The result is our summary report, Big Data Exec-utive Survey 2013, which reflect the perspectives of more than 50 senior business and technology executives representing Fortune 1000 corporate America and large Government agencies, com-

prising multiple divisions, operating globally as well as nationally, and serving many markets and customer constituencies.The results suggest that Big Data has arrived and is being tested and is in use at major organ-izations. 85 percent of the respondents have a Big Data initiative planned or in progress, and almost half are using Big Data in some type of

production/operational capacity, rang-ing from production reporting to

24/7 mission-critical applica-tions. For these organizations, Big Data offers the promise of improved data-driven deci-sion-making.

Why Big Data? Why Now?The primary reason senior decision

makers gave for investing in Big Data is to improve their organization’s analytics capabilities and make smarter business de-cisions. Most respondents cited the ability to

integrate and analyze a wide variety of data as the primary value of big data platforms. They

are using big data to address significant gaps in accessing relevant data and developing analytic skills. Over half the respondents rate their “ac-cess to relevant, accurate and timely data” as less than adequate and only 21.3% rank their com-pany’s analytic capabilities as “more than ade-quate” or “world class.” Whether they rank their current analytics ca-pabilities as “minimal” or as “world class,” all respondents are looking for Big Data to have a major impact on their business. Advanced com-panies with large analytic staffs (over 25 percent of respondents have over 500 data miners and analysts) are seeking to push the productivity of these teams with advanced tools and automation, while less mature companies hope to use big data to leapfrog their capabilities to get to parity. Most are Exploring, But Some Leaders are

Big Data in Corporate America: A Current State View

“The results suggest that Big Data has arrived”

“85 percent of the respondents have a Big Data

initiative planned or in progress”

85% of respondents have

a big data initiative planned or

in progress

25% of respondents

employ over 500 analysts

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EmergingWhile most organizations have begun allocating exploratory budgets for exploration and growth, some leaders are making a major commitment to Big Data. About a quarter of the companies are spending under one million dollars annually to evaluate Big Data, while half are launching pre-liminary solutions with budgets between one and ten million dollars. A quarter of the respond-ents are committed, spending more than $10 mil-lion on Big Data this year, with some projecting spending over $100 million annually within 3 years. For half the respondents, this is an incremen-tal spend and could be just the beginning for increased Big Data budgets as, on average, each respondent will spend more than $13.5 million annually on Big Data in 3 years. Fulfilling the Promise of Big DataIt is important to put Big Data into proper per-spective. There is a distinction between what’s going on in Corporate America today and the ex-perience of, and initiatives underway at, compa-nies that were born into Big Data, like Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, eBay, Yahoo, and other compa-nies that have powerful Big Data efforts under-way, but have never faced the challenge of deal-ing with older legacy data and systems.Big Data should not be viewed as a panacea. The

promise of Big Data has been an emerging theme in recent years, yet com-panies have been try-ing to leverage data to gain critical insights and help improve their busi-nesses for decades. Some of the tools and capabilities are new, and certainly the economics of accessing and managing data have improved, but many of the challenges remain the same. Big Data presents organizations with new capa-bilities for driving business value, but realizing the potential will only come with careful for-mulation of sound strategies accompanied by thoughtful execution plans. NewVantage Part-ners’ Executive Survey, and our resulting discus-sions with firms that are at the forefront and in the mainstream of corporate Big Data initiatives, have highlighted both the opportunity, as well as the challenges that lie ahead. About the AuthorsPaul Barth, PhD, and Randy Bean, are managing partners at NewVantage Partners.

PAUL BARTH & RANDY BEAN

CONTRIBUTORS

25% of respondents are

spending over $10 million on Big Data

in 2013

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