Q: Your recent research shows enormous opportunities for big data in Brazil but concludes that “service providers’ current offers are not clear enough to help clients understand the returns on investment.” Are exemplary big data strategies used by US companies a helpful guide in framing the advantages, or is the Brazilian situation unique?
All the noise created by the Big Data trend in the last few years in the US created understandable excitement in Brazil, with its burgeoning economy. Brazilian companies were quick to look for providers that could analyze all their data and deliver an edge, but realizing the high price of these operations, most postponed significant investment related to Big Data analytics. The hesitation looks as if it will be short-lived. In 2013 our analysts identified several vendors that had begun, after the initial reluctance, using the same strategy as large US firms with growing success. Big Data service providers are increasingly able to help clients create a roadmap that generates a competitive advantage–and with profits more visible, business buy-in is expanding. Frost & Sullivan expects Big Data market revenues for Brazil that stood at $243.6 million in 2013 to reach $965.0 million in 2018.
The biggest challenge in 2014 will be related to the lack of skilled labor able to use and manage solutions with new technologies such as MapReduce. As a consequence, some providers are implementing partnerships with universities in order to grow this specific manpower, even if it will take time.
— Guilherme Campos is an Information & Communication Technologies Industry Analyst at Frost & Sullivan
