In recent years， the promise and， in some cases， the hype of big data have produced plenty of critics who doubt the benefits of big data or point to the potential pitfalls facing organizations engaged in big data and analytics projects. These critics make some valid points. For example， not every organization has big data or needs to manage and analyze big data. A more pragmatic approach would be to look at not just big data but also small data， long data， dark data， or any other metaphors that have surfaced in recent years — in other words， all data.

　　Where these critics fall short， however， is in their discussion of the benefits of these projects to the average organization. IDC’s recently conducted research commissioned by Microsoft shows that better outcomes from data and analytics projects correlate with greater competitiveness of an organization in its industry or a better ability to fulfill its mission in the public sector. Although correlation does not equate to causation， a growing body of research shows financial and productivity benefits directly linked to better data-driven decision making enabled by business analytics solutions.1， 2

　　In addition， one cannot view the investment in data and analytics as a binary choice — an organization invests， or it doesn’t. Several prior research studies available in the market have looked at the benefits of any investment in data and analytics over no investment at all. Recognizing that an ever-growing number of organizations have already invested in a base level of business analytics technology and capabilities， IDC set out to identify the difference between those organizations and others that have invested in using more diverse data types and sources， using more diverse analytical tools and methods， and distributing information

　　Document #248459. ? 2014 IDC. www.idc.com | Page 1