Evaluation of a software positioning tool to support SMEs in adoption of big data analytics

Abstract

Big data analytics has been widely adopted by large companies to achieve measurable benefits including increased profitability, customer demand forecasting, cheaper development of products, and improved stock control. Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of the global economy, comprising of 90 % of businesses worldwide. However, only 10 % SMEs have adopted big data analytics despite the competitive advantage they could achieve. Previous research has analysed the barriers to adoption and a strategic framework has been developed to help SMEs adopt big data analytics. The framework was converted into a scoring tool which has been applied to multiple case studies of SMEs in the UK. This paper documents the process of evaluating the framework based on the structured feedback from a focus group composed of experienced practitioners. The results of the evaluation are presented with a discussion on the results, and the paper concludes with recommendations to improve the scoring tool based on the proposed framework. The research demonstrates that this positioning tool is beneficial for SMEs to achieve competitive advantages by increasing the application of business intelligence and big data analytics.