Big businesses are becoming more sceptical of hyped-up promises made by big data vendors, new research has revealed.
Researchers from Babel PR and market research firm Vanson Bourne who compiled a survey of 100 businesses, with more than a 1,000 employees in retail, manufacturing and financial services, also found that vendors are seeing less interest and rollout of big data solutions across the market.
When asked how sceptical the businesses were of claims made by big data companies on a scale of one to five, 57% or respondents ticked four or five, meaning sceptical or very sceptical.
Another 22% said they wanted the subject discussed less, while 4% were so turned off by big data that no amount of promises or insight would draw them to any vendor.
Ian Hood, managing director of Babel PR, said few technology solutions have been dramatically hyped as big data.
"The danger for all vendors is that they misjudge the peak of the hype cycle we are currently experiencing. From a communications perspective there can be real benefits in ‘riding the hype wave’ but you don’t want to get dumped when it breaks," he said.
However, the also research revealed that half of the respondents said their company had deployed a big data solution in the past two years, while 31% said they expect to deploy big data in the next two years.
"The research suggests the wave may be breaking already and the advice we are giving all big data vendors is to focus on the specific benefits their solutions bring to the target market and to illustrate those benefits with tangible evidence. Despite the apparent audience fatigue we expect continuing strong growth in the sector for those companies that get the message right."
