From Overload to Impact: An Industry Scorecard on Big Data Business Challenges

We have just released a new report based on a survey of 333 C-level executives from U.S. and Canadian enterprises spanning 11 industries to determine the pain points they face regarding managing the deluge of data coming into their organizations and how well they are able to use information to drive profit and growth.
There are some very interesting findings, such as the following:

• 94% of C-level executives say their organization is collecting and managing more business information today than two years ago, by an average of 86% more
• 29% of executives give their organization a “D” or “F” in preparedness to manage the data deluge
• 93% of executives believe their organization is losing revenue – on average, 14% annually – as a result of not being able to fully leverage the information they collect
• Nearly all surveyed (97%) say their organization must make a change to improve information optimization over the next two years
• Industry-specific applications are an important part of the mix; 77% of organizations surveyed use them today to run their enterprise—and they are looking for more tailored options

 When you break this down by industry there are some surprising results. For example, the oil and gas and life sciences industries lose the greatest estimated percentage of annual revenue, 22% and 20% respectively, from their current data management processes. These two sectors have always generated and captured huge amounts of data so what have they been doing with all that data? I have spoken to a number of healthcare provides in the US and there does now seem to be a growing realisation that all the data they have been collecting and archiving might have some real value. Of course going forward even more data is flowing into healthcare or has the potential to flow into healthcare as we look forward. For example, the Nike Fuel wrist band is perfect example of a completely new data source that healthcare providers could leverage. It is a very powerful monitoring device intended for sports people to help them manage their training plans but the potential beyond the area of sports is huge. This wrist band can monitor key body functions 24 hours a day. That sort of information, which is usually only available inside a hospital when you are attached to very expensive equipment, could be extremely useful to local doctors, paramedics, healthcare providers and insurance companies.
Not surprisingly, the public sector, healthcare, and utilities industries appear to be least prepared to handle the data deluge with with 41% of public sector executives, 40% of healthcare executives, and 39% of utilities executives giving themselves a "D" or "F" preparedness rating. I am surprised at seeing utilities dumped in this group. Smart metering and smart grids have been the poster child for big data projects over the last 2-3 years so it is a little surprising to read that utility companies are not ready yet to receive and process all this new data - which they claim they desperately need.
It is no surprise to read that the communications, manufacturing, and retail industries lose the lowest estimated percentage of annual revenue from their current data management processes – 10%.
You can download the full report from here: http://www.oracle.com/us/industries/industry-scorecard-1683398.html
So if you have not started thinking about how big data is going to transform your business now would be a good time to start thinking about all that data that is going to be arriving very shortly and may be you would like to call your Oracle account team and ask them for a briefing on our big data platform.