In order to get any value from it, 95 percent of businesses say they need to manage unstructured data. Businesses that use Big Data enjoyed increases in profits of between eight and ten percent as well as a ten percent reduction in overall costs. So it’s unsurprising that 83 percent of enterprise executives say they’ve pursued Big Data projects to gain a competitive advantage.

In the retail sector, 62 percent of businesses see competitive advantages from information and analytics. As long ago as 2011, the McKinsey Global Institute estimated that retailers using data analytics at scale could increase their operating margins by more than 60 percent.

The healthcare sector is rapidly adopting Big Data analytics for better diagnostics, more efficient responses and treatment strategies, and better targeting of treatment to different populations. Almost 100% of sales reps at construction companies that adopted analytics and geographic data reported dramatic decreases in their timeframe for providing price quotes. Furthermore, the current COVID-19 virus has highlighted how important accurate data is, updated in real-time, to develop treatments as well as assign and distribute resources that will optimize life-saving care.

Transportation organizations like Transport for London (handling 5 million passengers per day on the London Underground, 9,300 buses across 675 routes, much of London’s road network and more) use Big Data and analytics to map customer journeys, manage unexpected circumstances and keep hugely populous cities like London moving. And increasingly, banking uses this technology to manage risk, fight fraud, analyze customers’ habits, provide them with financial advice, and help them manage money.

Across the full spectrum of sectors, almost 50% of businesses in a McKinsey survey said that analytics and Big Data have fundamentally changed business practices in their sales and marketing functions, and 30% said the same about R&D. In Accenture’s survey, businesses say that in the next five years, the transformative effects of big data will have a major impact on customer relationships, product development, operational organization, supply chain optimization, and sharpening the data-focused nature of their organizations. According to NewVantage Venture Partners, Big Data delivers the most value to enterprises by decreasing expenses (49.2%) and creating new avenues for innovation and disruption (44.3%).