The State of Big Data Adoption

Big Data as a Service (BDaaS) continues to expand its area of influence in the world. More and more industries are considering and evaluating their need of adopting such services and the potential benefits that can be gained. There are multiple factors that must be assessed before adopting BDaaS. Many wonder what type of companies are adopting big data and what they’re level of satisfaction has been. Knowing and understanding the most common big data adoption challenges is a crucial step as well.

Big Data as a Service (BDaaS) continues to expand its area of influence in the world. More and more industries are considering and evaluating their need of adopting such services and the potential benefits that can be gained. There are multiple factors that must be assessed before adopting BDaaS. Many wonder what type of companies are adopting big data and what they’re level of satisfaction has been. Knowing and understanding the most common big data adoption challenges is a crucial step as well. Many find it difficult to know where to start in this journey of consideration and evaluation.

Luckily, this adoption process has already begun and we can glean insights from those that have already made and are in the process of making the big data transition. Qubole, a BDaaS provider, administered a survey with 766 respondents to identify significant trends in Hadoop adoption. Their survey gives insights on everything from the growth of big data adoption to a comparison of satisfaction between data platforms.

Findings from the survey show that those businesses which use Big Data as a Service end up being more satisfied with it when compared with other users. In fact, the numbers indicate that those who use BDaaS are up to 33 percent more likely to be satisfied with the big data projects they have. Going deeper into the numbers, nearly 40 percent of those currently using BDaaS were “very satisfied” with the service, while more than 57 percent were “somewhat satisfied.” Only 2.6 percent were “not satisfied” with it.

Qubole’s survey also demonstrates some of the most common challenges businesses face when it comes to big data. The two most common should be familiar to anyone that has tried to use big data. 48 percent of respondents say the limited availability of skilled employees was the biggest challenge, echoing the big data talent gap many organizations are experiencing. 47 percent pointed to limited budget, showing how businesses have been slow in reallocating resources to better handle big data needs.

More findings from the survey include a noticeable trend of more businesses using Big Data as a Service. The companies most likely to be using it were pretty well off, with at least $500 million in revenue. It’s clear from the survey that BDaaS adoption is growing, and while more work needs to be done, the trend is definitely going in the upward direction.