Knowledge, Attitude, Challenges of Big Data Analytics based on IT Staffs Point of View in a Developing Country

Introduction: The skilled IT staff about big data analytics can motivate organizations to adopt the big data analytics. The aim of the current study is to present the knowledge, attitude, and challenges of the big data analytics based on IT staff’ viewpoints in a developing country. Material and Methods: A self-administered semi-structured questionnaire was developed based on a literature review. Content validity and face validity were measured using Delphi technique. The questionnaire comprised of three parts including knowledge, attitude, and challenges. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the results. The chi-square test was applied to identify associations between knowledge and attitude of participants with the demographic characteristics. Results: Out of a total of 250 IT staffs, 120 participated in the study. Knowledge levels were low, moderate, and high in 35.0%, 33.3%, and 31.7 % of the participants, respectively. The two most affecting factors on the knowledge level of participants were age groups and sex. IT staffs hold a positive attitude toward big data analytics. The most of IT staffs believed that big data management is necessary for the country and they agreed that big data analyzes can provide many advantages to organization managers. As well, 35 challenges of the big data analytics were identified. Conclusions: Our results showed that the big data analytics face with many problems in following issues: awareness and education, recruiting skilled specialists, presentation big data analytics benefits to IT managers and policy-makers, conducting research projects, developing a strategic plan at national and local levels.