Businesses are putting their market status at risk if they fail to make the most of their data, according to data and analytics firm GlobalData.

The company says organisations that fail to derive actionable insights from the wealth of data they possess risk losing out to rivals using diverse data sets to gain a deeper understanding of their customers and marketplace.

According to the company's latest report, Big Data, today's digital economy is powered by data, which is produced in abundance by both individuals and enterprises and stored in vast data centers, covering hundreds of thousands of square feet. This has led to data frequently being described as the new oil, capable of generating significant value if used in the right way.

"The explosive growth in data is the result of a combination of technology trends, including the ubiquity of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, widespread use of social media and the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT)," says Ed Thomas, principal analyst for GlobalData's technology thematic research team.

"The impact of these trends is that mobile broadband data traffic is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 25% between 2018 and 2024, with video growing at 28%," he says.

"The challenge for enterprises is not collecting data unlike oil, data is not scarce, nor is it difficult to extract but deriving actionable insights from the wealth of information that they accumulate on a daily basis," Thomas explains.

"This is where big data technologies come in, with their ability to handle extremely large, diverse data sets that, when analysed, can reveal patterns, trends and associations, especially relating to human behaviour and interactions," he says.

Thomas says the opportunities available to those companies that can harness the power of big data are clear and wide-ranging but it is not a one-size-fits-all solution.

"Instead, businesses need to tailor their approach to their own specific requirements and use cases," he says.