5 Levels of Big Data Maturity in an Organization [INFOGRAPHIC]

Developing and implementing a Big Data strategy is not an easy task for organisations, especially if they do not have a a data-driven culture. Such a culture is a pre-requisite for a successful implementation of a Big Data strategy and earlier I have shared a Big Data roadmap to get to such a culture. According to this roadmap, the right way to start with Big Data is to have a clear understanding what it is and what it can do for your organisation and from there on start developing Proof of Concepts with a multi-disciplinary team. These first Proof of Concepts are vital for your company and to become data-driven and therefore should also be shared amongst all employees. From there on, you can slowly become more data-driven.

The below infographic, created by Knowledgent, shows five levels of Big Data maturity within an organisation. The first level they call the Infancy phase, which is the phase where one starts understanding Big Data and developing Proof of Concepts. The second level that they have identified is the technical adoption phase, meaning that the company gets ready to implement the different Big Data technologies. These technologies, whether on premises or in the cloud, will enable an organisation to develop new Proof of Concepts / products or Big Data services faster and better.

Once the IT department is capable of working with Big Data technologies and the business understands what Big Data can do for the organisation, an organisation enters level 3 of the Big Data maturity index. Business adoption will result in more in-depth analysis of structured and unstructured data available within the company, resulting in more insights and better decision-making.

Level 4 is the adoption of Big Data across the enterprise and results in integrated predictive insights into business operations and where Big Data analytics has become an integral part of the company’s culture. This level is the last level before a completely data-driven organisation that operates as a “data service provider”. Companies that have reached level 5 of the Big Data maturity index have integrated Big Data analytics in all levels within their organisation, are truly data-driven and can be seen as ‘data companies’ regardless of the product or service they offer. They will significantly outperform their competitors based on their Big Data insights.

All companies should strive for level 5 of the Big Data maturity index as that will result in better decision-making, better products and better service.

I really appreciate that you are reading my post. I am a regular blogger on the topic of Big Data and how organizations should develop a Big Data Strategy. If you wish to read more on these topics, then please click ‘Follow’ or connect with me via Twitter or Facebook.

You might also be interested in my book: Think Bigger – Developing a Successful Big Data Strategy for Your Business.

This article originally appeared on Datafloq.