Who are the thought leaders/drivers of big data in your organization? (n=433)

The results of our Big Data Use Cases Survey show that IT (45 percent) and management (43 percent) top the list of thought leaders and drivers behind big data in enterprises. The remaining business departments are still very passive on the whole and are driving the topic considerably less.

These findings tally with our experience in consulting projects with clients. In many cases, either IT uses and suggests big data technologies as a solution to address old or existing challenges from the bottom up, or management recognizes the strategic benefits of digitalizing and using data and drives the topic from the top down.

However, enterprises can only ensure the long-term success of big data when other departments accept and utilize it. There is obviously still work to do in this regard.

On closer examination, our data shows that management is a decisive factor in the progress of big data initiatives.

Big Data Thought Leaders by status quo (n=433)

In 61 percent of companies where management is the thought leader or driver behind this topic, big data initiatives are already integrated with business processes. Where big data initiatives are in pilot stage or conceivable in the future, management is the thought leader in only 46 percent and 34 percent of cases respectively. What is also striking is that respondents named operational departments such as sales more frequently when big data is already firmly anchored in their business processes.