Increased Spending in 2013 for In-house Analytics Skills and Better
Reporting
STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 22, 2013--
A survey by Pitney Bowes Software on Big Data reveals that the journey
from big data to business value has just begun. Of senior executives,
C-level, Vice Presidents and Presidents surveyed in the U.S., 80% report
that getting value from their data is a challenge at their organization.
When asked their biggest challenge to extracting value from big data,
the response most selected at 35% was that there is too much data and
too few resources. In addition, 38% of respondents reported that the
lack of analytics capabilities and skills is the biggest inhibitor to
gaining business value from Big Data.
Technology research firm Gartner has increased its forecast for
worldwide IT spending in 2013 to $3.7 trillion.1 According to
the DMA, global advertising expenditures will grow 4.7% to $480 billion
in 2012. Both spending projections will be largely driven by Big Data
initiatives.
Increased IT and marketing spending on Big Data will likely be invested
in staffing to gain business value from the ever-building volumes of
customer data. As technologists, analysts and marketers, we have plenty
of data, but we’re not very good at analyzing the data and reporting on
the insights, trends and best next actions. In short, the business value
is not yet rising up from the abundance of data.
One executive surveyed reported a need to “build skills to make use of
the data.” Another concurred by stating they must “manage unstructured
data and get automated value from it.”
“Many of our clients gain business insight by centralizing the data
analytics teams to develop best practices and consistent reporting
across the enterprise,” said Pitney Bowes Software President John
O’Hara. “In addition, organizations should resist the temptation to
continue one-off customer data exercises for each marketing campaign. By
repeating like data analytics exercises over time, brands create
relevant conversations and long-lasting relationships with their most
lucrative clients and consumers.”
Pitney Bowes recommends the following best practices for strategic
planning around data and spending:
-
Demonstrate the business value of every data project or exercise to
senior executives.
-
Focus spending on staffing with advanced analytics and reporting
skills.
-
Think about whether centralizing data, data management, and/or data
analytics will help deliver business value.
-
Create and nurture the discipline of repeating like data analytics
exercises over time to measure changes in business results and client
or consumer behavior over time.
About Pitney Bowes Software
Pitney Bowes Software provides multi-channel solutions that leverage
data to create relevant dialogue between organizations and their
customers. These solutions enable lifetime customer relationships by
integrating data management, location intelligence, sophisticated
predictive analytics, rules-based decision making and cross-channel
customer interaction management to increase the value of every customer
communication while also delivering operational efficiencies.
Pitney Bowes Software is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pitney Bowes Inc.
(NYSE:PBI), a customer communications management technology leader. For
more information, please visit www.pb.com/software
and www.pb.com.
1 Gartner, Inc., Forecast Alert: IT Spending, Worldwide, 4Q12
Update, John-David Lovelock, January 2, 2013.
Source: Pitney Bowes
Pitney Bowes
Carol Wallace
203 351 6974
Carol.wallace@pb.com
