Cloud, Mobile And Analytics Lessons From The IW 500

2013 InformationWeek 500

Healthcare company UPMC is exploring cloud computing not because that's trendy, but because it must cope with 5 PB of patient data that will double in the next 18 months. ConocoPhillips is just now embracing more real-time analytics on its natural gas wells, because it sees the chance to turn that data into double-digit percentage increases in gas output. Miami Children's Hospital is testing a tablet app that allows for remote doctor visits, because it sees the potential for a new revenue source.

We see in all our profiles of InformationWeek 500 companies the very practical ways they're using IT to drive their businesses. But just as important, the information we collect from surveying 500 business IT innovators provides a reality check on the most hyped trends. What follows are some surprising things we learned about cloud, data analytics and mobile from this year's IW 500 research.

Cloud: Not So Sophisticated

It's a surprise to see how uncommon hybrid clouds are. Just 12% of IW 500 companies can switch between public cloud infrastructure and in-house data centers based on demand. Another 18% are testing that capability, and about a fourth intend to try it within a year. But 45% have no plans for hybrid cloud computing.

Cloud advocates tout "cloudbursting" -- when a company, for example, runs its website in-house but switches over to a public cloud if a promotion overloads the company data center. It's a compelling concept, but our data shows hardly anyone is doing it.

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It's also surprising to see no increased uptake since last year's survey in the use of platform-as-a-service -- 26% of IW 500 companies are using it, nearly the same as the 27% last year. A sizable 21% are pilot testing PaaS, but 38% have no plans to use it from an outside vendor. (We didn't ask this year about software-as-a-service use, since last year 85% of IW 500 companies were already using it.)

Given the tepid use of hybrid or platform cloud computing, it's interesting that when we asked about the use of "storage, compute or other cloud infrastructure," only 7% said they have no such plans -- 59% are using cloud infrastructure, 21% are pilot testing it, and 13% plan to roll it out within a year.

I see two likely explanations for the gap between infrastructure- and platform-as-a-service. One, where companies use public IaaS, it's for quick development projects or some other standalone initiative that doesn't interact with production systems. And second, because we didn't specify "public" cloud in our cloud infrastructure question, I suspect some companies are counting their "private clouds," meaning a highly virtualized environment inside their own data centers. Both cases point to a limited, not terribly sophisticated role for cloud computing among IW 500 companies.

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Analytics: Just Getting Started

Managers at most IW 500 companies use analytics tools to monitor operations, but it's still early days for the next wave: predictive analytics and widespread employee use.

For example, 72% of IW 500 companies are monitoring revenue daily or more frequently, and another 13% are testing or will roll out such a capability within a year. Fifty-seven percent of companies provide dashboards to 20% or more of their employees to monitor key metrics; just 10% have no plans to do so. So daily monitoring and manager dashboards have become standard practice.

More cutting-edge analytics work involves giving dashboards to a majority of employees. Just 29% of companies do that; 35% are testing or planning to roll out those dashboards within a year; and 36% have no plans. Likewise, 47% of IW 500 companies allow end user what-if analysis with no IT involvement, and another 37% are in testing or plan to roll it out. Enabling such what-if analysis shows IT moving away from simple report building and toward facilitating creative thinking.

Predictive analysis isn't widely adopted. Just 54% of IW 500 companies do predictive revenue analysis, though another 19% plan to within a year.

One of the biggest question marks is whether sentiment analytics -- analyzing social data to assess what people are saying about brands and products -- will prove critical. Just a third of IW 500 companies use sentiment analytics tools today, but another fifth are testing them and 17% plan to use them within a year. Almost 30% have no such plans. Sentiment analytics is becoming essential for consumer goods companies, but for business-to-business companies it's a tougher sell.

Mobile: No Great Rush

How They Are Chosen

The InformationWeek 500 recognizes business technology teams that have made a demonstrable impact on how their organizations do business. It's open to companies with ­revenue of $250 million or more. Companies complete a rigorous application on their technology strategies, and a panel of InformationWeek editors determine the ranking by factoring in quantitative and qualitative factors.

For 2014, InformationWeek will shift to an even more exclusive spotlight for true innovators with what we're calling the InformationWeek Elite 100. The application period opens in October, and you can pre­register here .

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Someone forgot to tell most IW 500 companies that we're in the midst of a mobile revolution. Our company profiles do include creative uses of mobile apps -- what General Motors is doing to integrate iPads into its dealer sales process, for example, or how satellite TV company Dish has moved its in-home service technicians onto an oversized "phablet" style Samsung smartphone. But our data shows that a majority of IW 500 companies are going mobile at a more relaxed pace.

Forty-two percent have widely deployed mobile apps for customers, up a respectable five points from a year ago but still short of a majority. Just 30% of IW 500 companies have widely deployed mobile apps for employees, with another 30% in limited deployment -- both percentages little changed from a year ago. There are even some signs of mobile cooling off. A year ago, 38% of companies said that broader deployment of tablets was one of the top ways they boosted productivity; this year, it's just 30%. (In comparison, 50% said they're deploying analytics more broadly, up from 43% a year ago.)

Will IT organizations have the money to move forward with their grand plans? Sixty percent of companies expect 2013 IT spending to increase from 2012 levels, 28% said it would hold steady, and just 12% said it would decline. Last year, 68% expected their IT spending to increase.

All these numbers are cold comfort for IT leaders. For every data point that says companies are easing up on tablet expansion, for instance, there's a story of factory workers or salespeople using tablets to improve productivity. Whether it's cloud, analytics, mobile or some other emerging tech, the leaders who apply for the IW 500 aren't just trying to stay ahead of the average; they're trying to get ahead of the best.

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