Sybase Analytics

As we have noted more than once in recent weeks, organizations are moving to analytics solutions in unprecedented numbers. We thought it would be a good idea to get a clearer picture of both why and how this is happening, so over the summer, Sybase hand-picked a subset of its 1,800+ Sybase IQ customers for an anonymous survey. The customers surveyed represent the amazing diversity of the more than 3200 Sybase IQ implementations worldwide.

Some of the findings are pretty much in line with what you would expect from such a survey, while others are more surprising. Not surprisingly, more than 2/3s of those surveyed cited rampant data growth as a major driver behind their implementation of analytics. More surprisingly, fewer than 15% of these customers (all analytics customers, remember) have a formalized analytics plan in place.

Let’s look at some of the results in a little more detail.

Drivers

Rapid data growth continues to be a major driver for the adoption of analytics. As companies are faced with the challenge of managing the growing influx of data, they are turning to analytics to make sense of it all.

• 72% of those surveyed noted that data growth and the need to better manage and understand data was the biggest driver for implementing analytics
• Increasing and maintaining competitive advantage was ranked as the highest benefit sought with an analytics solution
• The highest priority for analytics solutions is time to results, followed by the total cost of ownership and initial cost of the implementation
• The number one impact companies report seeing from analytics is better planning, forecasting and decision-making

Analytics as a Priority

Although businesses feel that analytics is something their organizations must have, most companies still do not have a formalized analytics strategy or even include it as part of their annual IT planning process:

• A majority of those surveyed describe analytics as a “must-have” for their business
• 86% of the survey participants do not have a formalized analytics strategy
• While half of the respondents do not include analytics as part of their annual IT planning process, 93% see the growth of business data and the distribution of that data increasingly impacting IT planning
• Many cited the change from needing data monthly, weekly, or daily, to the need to have answers continuously and in real time
• Half of those surveyed have expanded the use of analytics throughout their business since the original deployment

The Road Ahead

These results indicate that, while organizations are making progress with analytics, there is still a lot to be done. Although organizations are increasingly using analytics to drive business results with faster and more accurate answers, the discipline of developing, implementing, and managing an overall analytics strategy is emerging slowly. Meanwhile, organizations at an earlier stage are looking for how best to make the initial move in that direction. Greater recognition of the kinds of success reported by our users can only help in making such a call.

Do you have an analytics strategy in place? What are some of the challenges and what kind of successes have you seen from analytics? How are you dealing with the complexities of incorporating BI solutions to drive business results? Let’s discuss.