Towards a Capability Model for Big Data Analytics

Big data analytics is becoming a veritable source of competitive advantage as it helps companies to better understand their business environment and to create or improve their products and services accordingly. However, big data analytics also poses challenges to organizations with respect to establishing the required capabilities. Building upon a design science research approach and the Work System Theory as a kernel theory, we identify several capabilities necessary to leverage the potential of big data analytics. To achieve this goal, we conducted 16 interviews with experts from an IT-strategy consulting firm. We furthermore organize the identified capabilities into a coherent model. The resulting capability model consists of eight capability groups that contain 34 capabilities. It provides a basis to systematically develop the necessary capabilities for the adoption und strategic usage of big data analytics.