Financial services, telecom/media and manufacturing lead vertical markets in Big Data adoption according to the Wikibon Big Data Analytics Survey, writes Dr. Ralph Finos (right) in his latest analysis. The survey data breaks down overall results into 12 vertical industries, each with its own data analysis needs. The report recognizes three stages of Big Data adoption: evaluation, proof of concept, and deployment of at least one Big Data application.

The second tier of maturity includes government, retail/wholesale, healthcare, IT technology and Business Services, Finos writes. These sectors are conducting point projects that use large data sets, but the results are less mission-critical than those in first-tier industries. Lagging industries include transportation, travel/hospitality and energy/utilities. These traditionally conservative businesses are slower to change, but technologies like Internet of things could accelerate Big Data adoption, the analyst says.

This adoption breakdown is important for data analysis vendors in part because clients in different stages need different services, Finos notes. The value of Big Data analysis is in improving business processes by enhancing the quality of information that drives business decisions. Big Data Analytic providers need to tailor their go-to-market strategies to specific industries and solution sets that are critical to that industry. They should consider customer skills, competitive drivers, the nature and scale of the data, complexity of the analytics required and the problem that the customer is trying to solve. “Meeting customers where they are and helping them to reach the next level in their journey is key to vendor success,” Finos writes.

Finos looks at each of the verticals and defines the drivers in its market. Banking and finance, for example, is the most data-driven vertical, with complex transactions, significant levels of regulation requiring risk-management testing and multiple cross-selling opportunities.

Overall, the Big Data analytics market is still immature, Finos concludes. Vendors will need to provide more than just a product to customers. Often they may need to help the customer develop a Big Data strategy, starting with defining what questions should be answered to provide the organization with maximum business value. The full Professional Alert and other material from this survey is available on the Wikibon Premium Web site.

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