Big Data has become such a big buzzword in tech these days that anyone who’s anyone is desperate to get in on the action. And there’s good reason for that too, for the sheer amount of data that’s being collected by companies around the world is truly astonishing. What with websites and devices gathering petabytes of data on a daily basis, many large corporations today are sitting on a veritable gold mine of information that’s just waiting to be analyzed for insights.

Up until recently though, few companies besides the very biggest have been able to succesfully mine those resources, but this is a situation that’s rapidly changing, according to the latest research from analysis firm Gartner. As anticipation of Big Data opportunities grows, businesses today feel that they can no longer afford to sit their twiddling their thumbs – now is the time to act if they’re not to be left behind.

This much can be perceived from Gartner’s latest global survey of company CIO’s and IT leaders, which found that 42% of respondents had either made investments in Big Data tech or were planning to do so in the next 12 months.

“Organisations have increased their understanding of what big data is and how it could transform the business in novel ways. The new key questions have shifted to ‘What are the strategies and skills required?’ and ‘How can we measure and ensure our return on investment?’” says Doug Laney, research vice president at Gartner.

“Most organisations are still in the early stages, and few have thought through an enterprise approach or realised the profound impact that big data will have on their infrastructure, organisations and industries.”

Big Data is finally going mainstream, but it won’t be anything like an easy ride for companies as their inititatives play out amidst disruptive forces that churn out newer and ever more demanding data types.

According to Gartner, companies feel that Big Data is a race that has to be seen through at all costs – Big Data tech has become crucial for two reasons, namely necessity and conviction. Companies can no longer afford to ignore the opportunities that simply cannot be met with traditional data streams and practices. Meanwhile, companies feel forced to act due to the never-ending media hype around Big Data.

“This makes IT and business leaders worry that they are behind competitors in launching their big data initiatives. Not to worry, ideas and opportunities at this time are boundless, and some of the biggest big data ideas come from adopting and adapting ideas from other industries,” says Frank Buytendijk, research vice president at Gartner.

“Still, this makes it challenging to cut through the hype when evaluating big data technologies, approaches and project alternatives.”

Numerous challenges will have to be overcome, but despite this Gartner is confident that 20% of global 1,000 organizations will be on the ball by 2015, establishing Big Data strategies that are equal to those of application management. Already, businesses across multiple industries have begun collection and storing vast amounts of data in anticipation of being able to understand it in the coming months and years.

For many industries, particularly government, education and manufacturing, the most immediate opportunities will lie in combining this data with what’s known as “Dark Data”, that vast, underutilized reservoir of information from emails, multimedia files, transaction and other disparate sources. This fits with Gartner’s belief that while much of the media hype has focused on storage and handling, the real winners will be those that can get a grip on the growing range of Big Data sources.

“The application of formal information valuation models will allow IT, information management and business leaders to make better-informed decisions on information management (IM), enrichment, security, risks, purchasing, collection, usage, bartering, productisation and disposal,” Laney concludes.