MoneyWatch Tech

How Managers Cope -- or Fail to Cope -- With the Data Deluge

By Ben Popper

Updated on: November 30, 2010 / 1:55 PM EST / MoneyWatch

Executives and managers across the business world are hooked on the flood of data streaming in from the Web, each hoping to find the nugget that will inform a great decision or impress a superior. But a new study of more than 500 C-level executives and managers found that the vast amount of available information quickly overwhelms the ability to meaningfully analyze it.

The report is by Avanade, an IT consulting company co-owned by Microsoft (MSFT) and Accenture. So going in, you need to take their findings with a certain grain of salt, since the report creators are both highlighting a problem and selling a cure.

That said, Avanade's findings are still sort of interesting. Avanade reported that of the 543 executives they surveyed, the majority feel overwhelmed by the amount of data their company manages. Even more reported that important decisions were delayed because of too much information and many found themselves constantly interrupted by data that turned out to be irrelevant.

Ben Popper

According to Avanade's research, 56 percent of business and IT executives report they feel overwhelmed by the amount of data their company manages. Surprisingly, 62 percent of C-level respondents -â€" whose time is considered the most valuable in most organizations -â€" report being frequently interrupted by irrelevant incoming data.

That kind of confusion and delay would be bad enough, but according to research from BT Global services, more than a quarter of executives report they have lost business -- not because they didn't have the right information, but because they couldn't access it in an efficient manner.

Ben Popper

Avanade's research found that one in three executives were routinely unable to identify the person within their organization who could provide the right data at the crucial moment.

How can this problem be solved? Most business data still arrives via email, but social streams and IMs are delivering an increasing amount of crucial info. New browsers like Rockmelt allow users to keep better tabs on their social streams and to more easily search the history of those conversations and posting for important info. Web widgets like Instapaper and Evernote help users easily keep track of what they're browsing.

Ben Popper

72% of executives say email is their biggest source of information, while just 21 percent cite social services and IMs. But this is changing rapidly.

Paul Sloan, Executive Editor, BNET

Some of most successful executives I know only turn their email on for an hour a day. They dedicate that hour for answering emails so that they can get work done the rest of the day.

Services like Greplin and Introspectr provide a more in depth solution. Both require users to give over access to all their written communications, so for those with privacy concerns, that could be a hangup. But past that hurdle, these two web startups provide powerful search that handles email, social streams and IMs. Introspectr can even search unopened email attachments and the web pages behind shared links to find pertinent information.

New browsers, web widgets and better search tools won't solve the data deluge, but put them all together, and you're off to a good start.

Tyson Hartman - Avanade CTO - talks about the challenges of Big Data.

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