Few can dispute that big data analytics are fast becoming an important part of any company’s business strategies. But it is equally true that this is still a young trend, and one that many enterprises haven’t mastered yet. A survey conducted by technology community Wikibon shows that currently companies are getting a return of just 55 cents on every dollar they invest in big data.

On the plus side, respondents are still very optimistic about what the future holds and expect to make up to $3.50 on the dollar within the next three to five years. The results show a significant divide between business and IT managers, with the latter reporting much higher success rates. The authors of the report say that this is due to a difference in criteria: IT managers consider a project successful when the technological tools work well, but business decision-makers want to see financial results.

The authors write that it is essential to know the different roles that employees play, understanding the complexities of the process in order to simplify it. On the IT side, there is a separation between the employees whose job it is to operate the tools and those who develop specific applications. On the business side, the challenge is designing a plan that will allow companies to focus their analytics efforts on areas that they know will produce useful data.

Business intelligence reporting systems are already evolving and becoming more accurate as companies fine tune their data mining processes. Over time, a greater understanding of how analytics work will certainly improve their effect on the bottom line.