Big data move brings big business opportunities

It has been undoubtedly one of the most discussed business topics in recent years, and one that caused strong urgency among executives around the world: the big data revolution, or potentially fad, according to some sceptics, has led to a boom of technology investments that bring memories of the internet bubble more than 15 years ago.

Cases of successful use of data, big or small, are abundant, but so are the failures to do so. A recent survey of more than 100 executives conducted at Insead indicates that more than half of the companies are still in the planning phases of using big data or have not even started to consider the potential, with less than a third already executing some big data projects.

According to a recent study of executives in Asia-Pacific by the Economist Intelligence Unit, more than 40 per cent are not even sure their companies have any big data strategy, and only 6 per cent consider their companies as well advanced in adoption. However, well over 70 per cent do believe in the potential of big data to improve business performance.

The gap between aspiration and practice is still large, as expected during the hype period of any potential innovation, but the challenges are common and the value is real.

Research does show the benefits companies can reap from big data: investments in big data technologies and the use of data to support business decisions do have an impact on a firm's productivity, which is measurable, as expected, with data.

Big data, often driven by digitisation, has been affecting many aspects of business, marketing and sales being among the early adopters, according to our research.

Firms that are leveraging big data do understand their customers better and provide them with better tailored products or services in real time across multiple channels. Many cases - not only cases of companies from Silicon Valley - support these findings.