50 per cent of UK firms using outdated BI practices, says HDS

Most companies still dealing with 'lots of bits of little data' says HDS's Abdessamad

More than 50 per cent of UK companies are using old business intelligence practices to make critical decisions, while 69 per cent of companies investing in big data analytics do not have the infrastructure in place to extract adequate real-time insights, a new report from Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) has stated.

HDS also says that 75 per cent of CIOs agree that siloed working practices within their own companies are holding back the potential of big picture big data analysis.

"We need to avoid this continuing confusion between big data and business intelligence," HDS SVP of global services Hicham Abdessamad told Computing.

"But BI isn't big data; it's looking for trends, or local information, and is mostly structured. You know what you're looking for, but big data is so wild, it doesn't have any structure.

"The difference with BI is you kind of know what you're looking for - but in big data, while you have an idea, you don't know quite what you're looking for, so you don't want to miss anything."

More importantly, stated Abdessamad, while BI is still "pretty expensive", CIOs can expect to pay out "to a lesser extent" for properly executed big data infrastructures.

HDS's report also suggests that traditional siloed practice within companies is preventing data sharing between departments.

"Companies are still siloed, and what's happening right now is, rather than dealing with big data, companies are still dealing with lots of bits of little data," Quocirca principal analyst Rob Bamforth told Computing.

"So like you've always had in organisations, you have zones of power, and that's not where you get maximum return and value. The research shows it's hard to demonstrate ROI to CEOs. There's nobody to take the big picture view."

Abdessamad added that "the power of information is multi-dimensional, and if every department holds onto their own things, you massively reduce their value, and basically go back to data warehousing".

Abdessamad believes a lack of people who appreciate the potential of big data is holding the technology back.

"There's a role called the data scientist, and we still can't find them," said Abdessamad.

"This report doesn't answer the question of where they are, but validates the need for them."

Abdessamad stated that the need is still for "a PhD type, but also with vertical expertise".

Bamforth suggested that "the internal shift needed probably doesn't actually revolve around data scientists, but more around a data driver - someone who's going to drive data projects across the business".

While Abdessamad commented that many organisations are now creating big data-focused teams, and dealing with analytics "in the right way", it's "still a process".

"Retailers for one really can't afford to not start doing this," Abdessamad concluded.