Data projects have traditionally started in IT or by line-of-business managers looking to get ahead.But now that data is more often viewed as a valuable asset, C-suite executives are proposing and sponsoring big data projects more regularly, according to Yves de Montcheuil, Talend's vice president of marketing.Talend, an open source company specializing in data integration, recently conducted a survey of data professionals in 231 businesses. Some of the results, de Montcheuil said, show that executives are more receptive to potential data quality and management projects, and sometimes even suggest such projects themselves.Executives are also past their fears of open source software in the enterprise, de Montcheuil said.  That shift is partially because of the maturing open source market, and partially because of less propaganda from enterprise software vendors looking to downplay open source software capabilities.In this interview with Data Informed staff writer Ian B. Murphy, de Montcheuil discusses the steps to starting a data project from an executive level, what pitfalls to avoid for a first big data analytics effort, and how best to find and nurture data an organization already collects. (Podcast running time: 20:36)Email Staff Writer Ian B. Murphy at ian.murphy@wispubs.com. Check out other Big Data podcasts from Data Informed. Related articles on Data Informed:An Integrated Systems Approach: Six Imperatives for a Big Data Analytics Platform.SAS Experts: MDM A Key Starting Poing for Big Data Analytics.Data Governance for Big Data Analytics: Considerations for Data Policies and Processes.