Accenture’s research into Big Data trends revealed some interesting data about how manufacturers feel about incorporating Big Data into their companies. An overwhelming majority of surveyed companies have high expectations for Big Data and analytics, but only 17 percent have actually implemented solutions.
According to Accenture’s Big Data Analytics in Supply Chain: Hype or Here to Stay?, companies that are benefitting from Big Data analytics attribute success to strategy, operations and the talented people helping gain insight from the data.
Click here for more on The Top Manufacturing Technology Trends For 2015 And Beyond.
To help me make sense of the findings, I discussed the report with Gary Hanifan, managing director for Accenture Strategy, Operations.
“A big key finding was that Big Data analytics are on everyone’s mind,” Hanifan said.
He cited the findings that 48 percent of executives surveyed expect to create an organizational ability to respond to changes and 45 percent expect Big Data to help them gain more insight about the future.
Hanifan said, “The second key finding is that the actual use of Data is limited.” Companies have difficulty adopting Big Data, despite understanding the benefits.
Hanifan said the survey shows a few major reasons why companies might be hesitating to adopt; 67 percent are concerned about the large up-front investment and 64 percent cited security worries as a greatest concern about Big Data use.
Another reason companies hesitate is that they don’t have the right people with the right skills in place. Hanifan said, “There is a real need for the kind of people with a combination of an understanding of analytics and industry acumen.”
Those who are engaging with Big Data analytics are seeing big changes. “We’re seeing that the leaders are taking advantage of digital technologies as a disruptor to their linear supply chains,” said Hanifan. “It comes down to being able to identify the opportunities for growth and take advantage of them in the marketplace.”
Read the full study here. Here is an infographic accompanying the study:
