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Big data: You've got to spend a dollar ... to make fifty-two cents – report

Maybe it's not the gold mine the hype-sters thought it was

What do you expect from big data mining: easy-to-find gold nuggets of information from the dark pits of the data dumps? According to a recent report from the Wikibon consulting group, almost half of big data projects fail.

It also found that the payoffs – using current technology – are not yet worth the costs of running the projects.

Here's what the open-sourced consultancy has to say:

In a recent survey, 46 per cent of Big Data practitioners report that they have only realised partial value from their Big Data deployments. An unfortunate 2 per vent declared their Big Data deployments total failures, with no value achieved.

Why? Wikibon sees three reasons

  1. Not enough skilled Big Data practitioners
  2. "Raw" and relatively immature technology
  3. A lack of compelling business use case

Wikibon looked at around 100 firms currently investing in big data projects and found: "Enterprises expect a return of between $3 and $4 for every $1 invested in Big Data technology over the next three to five years. The reality, however, is that most enterprises have to date achieved a return of just $.55 on the dollar."

That's pathetic.

Big Data ROI (Wikibon 2013)

Its conclusion is:

Enterprises interested in leveraging Big Data to drive impactful business outcomes must be prepared to deal with the double threat of too few skilled Big Data practitioners and raw, immature technology.

It suggests that, in order to "overcome these obstacles", and derive "significant value" from big data, enterprises should consider engaging professional services organizations and/or cloud services.

Read the report here. ®

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