Big data and analytics to remain top focuses for CIOs for years - Gartner

Just 30 per cent of organisations have invested in big data, according to analyst firm

Business intelligence (BI) and analytics will remain a top focus for CIOs until at least 2017 but current confusion surrounding big data will limit growth until 2016.

That's the latest prediction from analysts at Gartner, who believe that "fact-based decision making" will have a role to play in businesses in all major industries.

"Major changes are imminent to the world of BI and analytics including the dominance of data discovery techniques, wider use of real-time streaming event data and the eventual acceleration in BI and analytics spending when big data finally matures," said Roy Schulte, vice president and analyst at Gartner.

He added that more organisations will be able to take advantage of business intelligence and analytics as the price of big data solutions drops in the coming years.

"As the cost of acquiring, storing and managing data continues to fall, companies are finding it practical to apply BI and analytics in a far wider range of situations."

As a result of these reduced costs, Gartner predicts that companies will move their future investment away from IT-developed reporting solutions and will shift towards business-user-led analysis solutions. Meanwhile, IT will shift its focus to data modelling and governance, resulting in BI and analytics replacing traditional IT in the area of data discovery.

However, Gartner points out that not every business can follow the same model and each needs to have its own specific plan.

"BI leaders should scrutinise the road maps of both data discovery and IT-centric vendors to determine their suitability to meet growing business user and enterprise requirements," said Schulte. "It's important to acknowledge that one size rarely fits all."

But despite predictions about the increased importance of big data Gartner points out that confusion surrounding big data is currently inhibiting spending on BI and analytics software.

A recent Gartner survey suggested just 30 per cent of organisations have invested in big data. However, as the firm points out, this leaves room for significant growth in the coming years.

As big data continues to become more important to businesses, Computing is hosting its third annual Big Data Summit on 27th March 2014. The free-to-attend one-day event features a variety of top speakers and gives IT professionals the chance to learn about the very latest issues and trends surrounding big data.

For full detils about the event and for information about how to register, visit the Computing Big Data Summit 2014 website here.