Two-thirds of firms will invest in big data this year, claims Gartner

Almost two-thirds (64 per cent) of businesses around the world are investing or planning to invest in big data technology in 2013 - up from 58 per cent in 2012.

So claims research by anlayst firm Gartner, which also showed 30 per cent had already invested in the technology, while 19 per cent said they plan to make an investment in the next 12 months.

A further 15 per cent said they planned to invest within the next two years.

The sectors most likely to have already put money into big data are media and communications (39 per cent), banking (34 per cent), and the service industry (32 per cent).

However, planned investments during the next two years are highest among transportation (50 per cent), healthcare (41 per cent) and insurance (40 per cent).

Lisa Kart, research director at Gartner, said: "While there are many areas companies would like to address, a slightly different picture emerges when we ask about the priority of these categories.

"Different industries have different priorities when it comes to big data. Industries that are driving the customer experience priority are retail, insurance, media and communications, and banking, while process efficiency is a top priority for manufacturing, government, education, healthcare and transportation organisations."

James Riley, global head of innovation at HCL Technologies, commented: "The Gartner report certainly supports the notion that more organisations are looking to invest in Big Data projects.

"The excitement around Big Data quickly needs to be translated into business value to justify the not inconsiderable investments required. Big Data projects typically fail because organisations try to do too much too soon and don't have the necessary underlying technological architecture or people to properly support it. So [they] need to fully understand what is possible with Big Data and how it can help them achieve their corporate goals."