New Delhi: Investment by organisations in 'Big Data' continues to rise this year compared to 2012, with 64 per cent firms investing or planning to invest in the technology in 2013, a survey by research firm Gartner said.

Generally, 'Big Data' is referred to as a large volume of both structured and unstructured data, which is so large that it is difficult to process it using the traditional database and software techniques.

"Big data investments in 2013 continue to rise, with 64 per cent of organisations investing or planning to invest in big data technology compared with 58 per cent in 2012," it said in a release.

However, less than eight per cent of survey respondents have actually deployed Big Data, it added.

The Gartner survey of 720 research circle members globally, conducted in June 2013, is designed to examine the technology investment plans around big data, stages of big data adoption, business problems solved, data, technology and challenges faced by firms.

"The hype around big data continues to drive increased investment and attention, but there is real substance behind the hype," Gartner Research Director Lisa Kart said.

The survey underlines the fact that organisations across industries and geographies see opportunity and real business value rather than the smoke and mirrors with which hypes usually come, she added.

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