7. Conclusion
We set out to show how incumbents evaluate the significance of big data for their organizations and to investigate aspects – challenges and opportunities – that drive incumbents toward a positive or a negative conclusion on the adoption of big data technologies. Considerations about adopting new technologies have many similar traits across incumbents, like uncertainty about the meaning of the new technology and uncertainty about how to adapt organizational processes to the new technology. Big data is to some extent different in two aspects: the concept is elusive and can mean different things to different firms, and it can have a transformative effect on the organization of work in the firm. This elusiveness makes it difficult to explain what the technology means but also opens up possibilities of defining the technology in creative ways, thus making it possible to gain support and funds to introduce it. The transformative capability of big data makes managers wary as it might threaten their position in the firm, and creates ripple effects, transforming other systems besides those directly connected to the technology.
To gain a better understanding of the transformative effects of big data, we need to study more incumbent organizations that have gone through the transition. Incumbent D, however, is one of few such companies we have been able to identify. The transition seems difficult for incumbent firms to complete, as so few manage to go through it. Gaining support in an organization for introducing the new technology seems to demand a logic connected to exploitation, effectiveness, and efficiency, while calls for exploration and development often falls on deaf ears. This is somewhat of a paradox as the technology is sold by vendors mainly as a tool for exploring data and information (cf. March, 1991).
