Big data investments in 2013 continue to rise, with 64 percent of organizations investing or planning to invest in big data technology compared with 58 percent in 2012, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc. However, less than eight percent of survey respondents have actually deployed.

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"The hype around big data continues to drive increased investment and attention, but there is real substance behind the hype," said Lisa Kart, research director at Gartner. "Our survey underlines the fact that organizations across industries and geographies see 'opportunity' and real business value rather than the 'smoke and mirrors' with which hypes usually come."

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The Gartner survey of 720 Gartner Research Circle members worldwide, which was conducted in June 2013, was designed to examine organizations' technology investment plans around big data, stages of big data adoption, business problems solved, data, technology and challenges.

The survey found that of the 64 percent of organizations investing or planning to invest in big data technology in 2013, 30 percent have already invested in big data technology, 19 percent plan to invest within the next year, and an additional 15 percent plan to invest within two years.

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Industries leading big data investments in 2013 are media and communications, banking, and services. Thirty-nine percent of media and communications organizations said that they have already invested in big data, followed by 34 percent of banking organizations and 32 percent of services firms. Planned investments during the next two years are highest for transportation (50 percent), healthcare (41 percent) and insurance (40 percent). However, every vertical industry again shows big data investment and planned investment.

From a regional point of view, North America continues to lead investments with 38 percent of organizations surveyed saying that they have invested in technology specifically designed to address the big data challenge. Asia/Pacific organizations were notably ambitious with 45 percent indicating that they plan to invest during the next two years. Consistent with Gartner experience, EMEA and Latin America tend to lag in technology adoption, for which big data is no different.

Regardless of geography, investment typically has different stages that organizations go through. It starts with knowledge gathering, followed by strategy setting. The investment is small, and mostly consists of time. Then it is typically followed by an experiment or proof of concept. Still, the investment is small and tentative. Then, after completing a successful pilot, the first deployments take place. Here the investment curve rises. Over time, business operations start to rely on the deployments, and the investments move from implementing systems to managing them.

"For big data, 2013 is the year of experimentation and early deployment," said Frank Buytendijk, research vice president at Gartner. "Adoption is still at the early stages with less than eight percent of all respondents indicating their organization has deployed big data solutions. Twenty percent are piloting and experimenting, 18 percent are developing a strategy, 19 percent are knowledge gathering, while the remainder has no plans or don't know."

Looking at big data adoption for those organizations that have made investments, 70 percent have moved past the early knowledge gathering and strategy formation phases and into piloting (44 percent) and deployment (25 percent). Among those planning to invest during the next two years, 80 percent are in the earlier stages (knowledge gathering and strategy phase).

The survey revealed that there are a wide range of business problems being addressed using big data, although there are some clear patterns. In Gartner's 2012 and 2013 studies, business cases that improve process efficiency and business cases around customer experience dominate big data wish lists. In the 2013 survey, 55 percent of organizations said that they are currently addressing enhanced customer experience using big data, while 49 percent are using big data to address process efficiency.

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