Survey reveals big data trends in UAE

Posted On September 15, 2013

Big data is giving rise to markedly improved decision making and is having a significant impact on companies’ competitive differentiation and ability to avert risk.

The survey, released this week, reveals that 87% of UAE respondents feel decisions in their organisation could be improved with a better use of data, and 67% agree that their senior teams trust Big data insights to make truly transformative business decisions.

So far only 45% have achieved what they perceive to be a ‘competitive advantage’ as a result of big data analytics and 67% believe that industries that succeed will be the same ones using such tools.

However, 27% of the UAE firms polled have no current plans for implementing Big data technology. While budget (64%) was the most important factor for overall business decision making, the most common reason cited as the inhibitor to big data adoption was the lack of a clear business case or proven ROI (57%).

“As businesses grow more competitive, there is an increasing demand for a variety of skills from their employees, to drive a significant competitive advantage creating new opportunities for young talent and career advancement of existing employees within the enterprise,” says Samir Mardini, Head of Talent Consulting MENA, Aon Hewitt Middle East.

“This need for education and learning is driven even further by the rapid evolution of the technology landscape and the growing demand for intelligent solutions to enhance performance efficiencies and create new customer experiences.”

Mardini continued by adding: “Set against this backdrop and to cater to the increasing demand for a qualified pool of local resources in the country, the UAE continues to witness an increased focus on skills and development through strategic alliances and partnerships between industry leaders and academia, to introduce the student body to technologies like cloud computing, virtualisation and big data to create a qualified workforce capable of leading the future of the country and sustaining its growth for years to come.”

EMC polled a total of 237 businesses including IT management and executives, technical architects, data scientists and storage/infrastructure managers from a range of businesses in the UAE who registered to attend the EMC Forum event on September 10.

The UAE results will be added to the thirty-six country-level survey results being collected through EMC Forum events taking place around the world between June and November 2013.

Visit EMC Forum 2013: Transforming I.T. Study for a closer look at the UAE survey results and those of other countries as they become available. The series will conclude with an announcement of the global results in December.

Source: AMEinfo.com

View All »