Big Data driving market disruption, leaving many organisations fearing irrelevance

A global report by Capgemini, in partnership with EMC Corporation, reveals that amid the market disruption being driven by Big Data, two-thirds of organisations (65 per cent) acknowledge they are at risk of becoming uncompetitive unless they embrace new data analytics solutions. The report, ‘Big & Fast Data: The rise of Insight-Driven Business’ surveyed over 1,000 C-suite and senior decision makers across North America, South America, Europe and Asia-Pacific to understand the need and enterprise readiness for Big Data adoption. In response to client demand, and building on the success of its Business Information Management Global Service Line (GSL), launched five years ago, Capgemini plans to grow substantially the size of its insights and data capability through a new ‘Insights & Data’ global practice, with a greater focus on helping clients access relevant insights to inform business decision-making across the whole enterprise.

According to 64 per cent of enterprises surveyed Big Data is changing traditional business boundaries and is enabling new providers to move into their industry. Over one quarter (27 per cent) reported competition from new players in other industries, while a majority, (53 per cent) expect to face rivalry from data-enabled start-ups. This suggests that mastering the management and analysis of Big Data is now key not just to success but also to business survival.

Data-driven insights are fundamental to business performance
There is widespread recognition that the data which organisations hold is becoming a core component of market value (59 per cent of respondees). This is also reflected in the boardroom, with almost a third of companies (32 per cent) having already introduced or in the process of introducing new C-level roles for data management. Further findings from the report show:
54 per cent say that investment in Big Data over the next three years will outstrip past investment
61 per cent acknowledge that Big Data is now a driver of revenues in its own right and is becoming as valuable to their businesses as their existing products and services
43 per cent organisations already have or are currently restructuring in order to exploit new Big Data opportunities
· 36 per cent of respondents say that due to the strategic importance of Big Data, they have had to circumvent IT teams to carry out the necessary data analytics required to gain business insights
· Over half (52 per cent) of respondents reported that developing fast insights from data was hampered by limitations in the IT development process
· Accessing Big Data faster is where C-suite executives see the most value – 77 per cent state that decision makers increasingly require data in real-time.

John Brahim, Head of Capgemini Insights & Data global practice states: “We have reached an inflection point in the market. Information is at the heart of every business decision and companies need to fully embrace the opportunities of Big Data or risk losing out in the market place. Our research has identified that while some organisations are using Big Data to reduce cost and improve existing performance, others are using it to drive into new markets and ultimately to monetise data in its own right. Every enterprise must now define a path to become an insight-driven business. We have designed a core set of guidelines and created underlying frameworks that will help enterprises to go on the journey to get insights at the point of action everywhere. We believe it is this approach that will ultimately be a game-changer for enterprises and entire industries.”

Paul Maritz, Pivotal Chief Executive Officer, EMC Federation adds: “Compelling user experiences and new business models in the digital age are fuelled by the dramatically increasing availability and usage of data. Businesses across the spectrum need to realise the ability to not only rapidly ingest, reason over and rapidly react to multiple sources of data, but to build the insights gained into the fabric of what they do. Those entities that don’t develop this capability are at very high risk of disruption. This means that businesses need to invest in the people, skills, tools and modern platforms as a matter of urgency.”

"With 90 per cent of all the data in the world created in the last two years and 80 billion sensors activated by 2020, organisations must build for Big Data business models and insight economies. Success requires the mastery of data to decisions. The ability to ingest all types of data, transform data to information, surface up insights, and take action on insights will enable organisations to create disruptive business models. Those leaders that succeed will find that 20 per cent of their revenue streams will come from these insights by 2020. More importantly, these companies will possess an unfair digital advantage in meeting regulatory compliance, improving operations efficiency, creating new revenue streams, differentiating in strategy, and delivering on brand authenticity", comments R "Ray" Wang, Principal Analyst and Chairman, Constellation Research, Inc.

Capgemini’s Insights & Data global practice focusing on new Insights as-a-service platform
Building on the success of its Business Information Management Global Service Line (GSL), launched five years ago, Capgemini is now evolving this service line into a global practice focused on ‘Insights & Data’, which is planned to grow substantially faster than the overall market. Currently Capgemini has 10,000 practitioners in the field – mostly data engineers and business intelligence specialists - but it sees the general market demand doubling in the next five years.

The Capgemini Insights & Data practice combines the pioneering work to date on big and fast data and its business consulting expertise with a new insights focused approach. As part of this initiative Capgemini has developed an innovative Insights as-a-service platform which will be piloted with a select number of clients during H1 2015. Designed to enable companies to analyse and respond to the behaviour patterns and actions of their customers in real time, this new platform should also enable continuous improvement of selected business processes in selected domains, without incurring the upfront cost of investment in data science and IT infrastructure. Capgemini expects its Insights as-a-service platform to be ready in H2 2015.

The Big Fast Data: Rise of the Insight-Driven Business report draws on research conducted by FreshMinds, on behalf of Capgemini and EMC. It combines the results from a quantitative online survey and supplementary in-depth qualitative interviews during August 2014. Over 1,000 senior decision makers from across 9 industries (including consumer goods and retail, engineering, financial services, healthcare, media, oil and gas, public sector, telecommunications and utilities) and 10 markets worldwide (including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Netherlands, Nordics (Sweden, Finland, Norway) United Kingdom, and the United States) took part in the study.