13 Oct Big Data, Cloud, Mobile, Security Drive ROI, Dell Survey Finds
Dell’s second annual Global Technology Adoption Index shows companies investing in big data, cloud, mobility, and security are enjoying about 50% faster revenue growth than their competitors that didn’t invest.
Companies that invest in big data are growing at a 50% faster rate than their competitors, but concerns remain over the cost and ROI.
That’s according to Dell‘s second annual Global Technology Adoption Index, a survey of 2,900 employees of mid-market organizations, which also looked at three other strategic investment areas for these companies — cloud, mobility, and security. Overall, the survey found that companies that invested in these technologies saw significantly faster revenue growth rates than companies not making those investments.
But while last year’s report found that security was the biggest barrier to adoption of these technologies, this year cost became just as big of a factor. So why are costs now a bigger concern?
“The situation is most acute in times of technological disruptions like the one we’re currently experiencing,” Pund-IT analyst Charles King told InformationWeek. “Plus, the ongoing security attacks and breaches so many businesses continue to suffer are adding to the strain.”
Nonetheless, investments are increasing, and businesses are seeing the benefits.
“We’re enthused to see more organizations recognizing the strategic importance of technology investments,” Dell CIO Paul Walsh said in a prepared statement. And with Dell’s announcement Monday of plans to acquire tech giant EMC, the company will gain even more tools to help customers achieve their goals with technology investments.
Here’s a breakdown of the Global Technology Adoption Index, organized by strategic area.
Big Data
Among organizations that have big data but aren’t yet using it, the top barrier is uncertainty about the benefits being worth the expense. For companies that are already using big data, costs are also a concern. Of those, 29% said that the top barrier to extracting big data insights is the cost of the IT infrastructure. The second biggest barrier is securing the data, at 28%.
Companies surveyed said the benefits of big data are about gaining a competitive advantage, particularly in the area of customer acquisition, growth, and retention. IT pros said the top benefits are better targeting of marketing efforts (41%), optimization of ad spend (37%), and optimization of social media marketing (37%).