The most significant shift is that velocity is now the competitive differentiator for big data.

In 2014, several important shifts occurred in the world of big data – shifts that business executives around the globe cannot afford to ignore. Our sixth annual analytics study reveals a group of organizations differentiating themselves with speed-driven data and analytics practices that significantly impact business performance and competitive position. To compete in today’s digitally infused marketplace, other organizations need to emulate these outperformers by acquiring, analyzing and acting on data with a focus on speed to action.

Capabilities that enable an organization to consume data faster — to move from raw data to insight-driven actions — are now the key differentiator to creating value through analytics. In addition to this focus on speed, our latest analytics research reveals several significant evolu-tions in the era of big data.

Based on survey responses of more than 1,000 business and IT executives from more than 60 countries, our 2014 analytics research revealed four transformative shifts affecting the fast-paced digital marketplace:

1. A solid majority of organizations are now realizing a return on their big data investments within a year.

2. Customer centricity still dominates analytics activities, but organizations are increasingly solving operational challenges using big data.

3. Integrating digital capabilities into business processes is transforming organizations.

4. The value driver for big data has shifted from volume to velocity.

Given this shift toward speed, we sought to identify the organizations most capable of delivering and consuming insights quickly based on their survey responses.

To effectively meet accelerating demands, organizations need capabilities that enable speed to action and minimize the lag time between raw data and insight-driven actions. This requires both a pervasive adoption of analytics throughout the organiza-tion and the technical capabilities to quickly act on insights.

• Pervasiveness of analytics

Broader usage of analytics generates an enterprise-wide ability to act with speed and precision

Data diversity enables organizations to create more robust and meaningful insights, increasing the likelihood of greater business impact

• Technical capabilities to support analytics

Speed-driven organizations must be able to manage the volume, variety and velocity of the data available

Agility and flexibility within the data architecture is a key speed-enabling characteristic

Strengthening both of these capabilities is a cultural acceptance of the use of analytics, which requires executive support, leadership and funding.