by Angela Guess
Randy Bean recently wrote in the Harvard Business Review, “Big Data has quickly become an established fact for Fortune 1000 firms — such is the conclusion of a Big Data executive survey that my firm has conducted for the past four years… Big Data is emerging as a corporate standard, and the focus is rapidly shifting to the results it produces and the business capabilities it enables. When the internet was a new phenomenon, we’d say ‘I am going to surf the World Wide Web’ – now, we just do it. We are entering that same phase of maturity with Big Data. So, how can executives prepare to realize value from their Big Data investments?”
Bean continues, “Develop the right metrics. While a majority of Fortune 1000 firms report implementing Big Data capabilities, few firms have shown how they will derive business value over time from these often substantial investments. When I discuss this with executives, they often point out that the lack of highly developed metrics is both a function of the relative immaturity of Big Data implementations, as well as a function of where in the organization sponsorship for Big Data originated and where it currently reports. Organizations that have the executive responsible for data report to the Chief Financial Officer are more likely to have developed precise financial measurements early on.”
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