In its new report on Big Data, the research and consulting firm Celent has defined five tiers of data capability: Spectator, Experimenter, Practitioner, Innovator, and Scientist. Using these tiers, Celent suggests that an organization can understand where it is in terms of Big Data capability, but perhaps more importantly where it should be.

The report, Big Data: A Guide to Where You Should Be, Even If You Don't Know Where You Are, was written with a focus on insurance, banking, and securities.

“Celent does not advocate that all companies should aspire to be at the bleeding edge of big data,” says Craig Beattie, senior analyst with Celent's insurance group and coauthor of the report. “The goal of this report is to help financial institutions understand what their level of investment should be strategically, and how to get there.”

Among the findings of the report are:

There is no shortage of assertions around the power of Big Data to transform the enterprise. There is similarly no shortage of arguments for the obsolescence of most of today's technology infrastructures, since most lack the latest Big Data technologies. Beyond the hype, however, lies a compelling reality: as consumers become increasingly digitally driven, the manner in which financial services are delivered will change inexorably.
Big Data, when sensibly integrated with core, channel, and decision support systems, and directed from an enterprise perspective, holds the promise for enabling the survival of financial service companies within this epic transformation.

There are at least four reasons for this transformation, according to Beattie. Online/mobile channel usage has driven explosive growth in the number and variety of customer interactions. The customer experience has become the number one priority for most firms, and excelling in this environment will increasingly require delivering timely and relevant personalized information in real time.

Other reasons include: Products and marketing campaigns are increasingly customer-centric; News is breaking in social media and spreading faster than ever before, having widespread impacts on everything from purchasing decisions to stock prices; The economy and competitive pressures are forcing firms to focus on lean and efficient operations. Many markets are not growing, so growth can only come from very intelligent (data-driven) decisions across the enterprise.

Celent's advice for financial services companies is:

Examine your current capability level.
Evaluate where you should be.
Invest appropriately to close the gap.

Big Data is likely to redefine itself as the boundaries of data volume, velocity, and variety are pushed forward, according to Beattie. The massive rise in capability of computing systems to analyze and derive insights for unthinkably large data sets has already changed the online search and social industries, while creating some of the largest and best known organizations on the planet. The advances in technology are driving change in your company, your industry, and the capabilities of your solution providers.

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Celent Defines Five Tiers of Data Capability

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