Small Business Lacks Expertise to Use Big Data

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Big data is still a little too big for small business. That's the conclusion of new research that found that just 12 percent of small businesses currently using business intelligence were also interested in implementing big data analytics. The main obstacle to implementing these techniques is the expertise required to do so.

Big data is the term used for data that is collected about the interests of shoppers to learn more about their shopping behaviors and translate it into behavior to attract and retain them. Data comes from a variety of sources and must be analyzed in order for it to be useful.

"Big data is expected to be truly transformative for future small and medium-sized businesses by offering insights into business operations, understanding competitive landscapes and driving informed decision making," a survey by Techaisle, a market research and industry analysis organization, said. "Small and medium-sized businesses have begun to recognize the competitive advantages big data technology offers and there are many aggressive small and medium-sized businesses that are willing to invest in such a technology."

Although the research found that many small businesses believe that big data has the ability to help them cut costs and improve profitability, the research also found that analyzing big data presents a large challenge. Small businesses are also unable to realize the potential of big data because many companies also do not have the ability or expertise to implement big data strategies. However, Techaisle said that there is a potential for big data to get a big boost from the cloud.

"A move to cloud with big data analytics as a service is not far-fetched as small and medium-sized businesses will look to eliminate costs from building in-house infrastructure to support big data analysis," Techaisle said. This move can potentially help organizations save on the cost of implementing big data strategies.

The information in this research was based on the responses of 800 small and medium-size businesses. The research was conducted by Techaisle.