According to new research, executives feel they are not ready for the age of big data. “Nearly a third (29 percent) of executives gave their organizations a 'D' or 'F' in 'preparedness to manage the data deluge.' Another 31 percent rated preparedness with a grade of 'C'. Not having the right systems in place to gather the information they need is the biggest gripe of 38 percent of executives. Following close behind, 36 percent said their organizations weren't able to provide their business managers access to the information, and 29 percent said they were using systems that weren't designed to meet their industry's unique needs.”
I'm not sure how to disentangle “not having the right systems in place” from “using systems that weren't designed to meet their industry's unique needs”. Also, saying 36% aren't able to provide access to relevant information doesn't automatically mean the relevant information actually exists in the first place. Surveys like this can be difficult to interpret because they take the measure of a current concern and map it to a menu of potential deficiencies, each of which is likely to have widespread effects as well as being somewhat subjective.
To get real picky, show me an organization that is consistently and comprehensively using systems designed to meet the industry's unique needs. The industry's unique needs continually change. Also, the whole point of “the data deluge” is that it's meant to deliver surprises. Big data is going to show us industry needs beyond our expectations.
A positive approach to this question would be to pitch a menu of capabilities that executives could choose from in building their active response to the data deluge. These could include, for example: The ability to gather any and all types of information relating to objects and activities in our industry. And: Using systems that were designed around industry standards for data and standard process models.
Being ready for big data means being ready to handle any item or mass of data as meaningful information. So, your systems and practices need to be based on open standards agreed for your industry – standards whose evolution is actively managed on behalf of the community using them. Failing
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