Our Data and Analytics Trends Study 2017 compiled findings from over 900 senior business decision makers interviewed in nine major economies around the world (USA, Japan, Australia, Germany, France, Spain, India, Russia and the UK). The research examined how large organizations manage and use data today, as well as the biggest challenges and issues that will impact the big data and analytics industry globally over the coming years.
Let’s explore the five key findings:
1. Data is now key to global organizations…
The research unveiled that a high proportion of global businesses surveyed (96%) believe having an effective data analytics strategy is important to the growth and future of their organizations. Central to this is how companies will fill the current skills shortage, with almost half (48%) of the businesses surveyed, looking to increase employee training around data and analytics. Nearly four out of 10 respondents globally would like to see an increase in organizational budget/spend/investment around data and analytics.
2. Germany leads in global data and analytics adoption
Germany was found to be the leading nation globally when it comes to how its businesses engage with data and analytics. Germany also came out top in three out of four major areas looking at organizational use of data including; data analytics and adoption (84% of respondents), digital transformation (82% of respondents) and data warehousing (82% of respondents ). It was only beaten on one factor - the adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies - where Australia topped the league tables (70% of respondents). In the same category, the UK was joint last place with France (45% of respondents).
Germany also emerges globally as the most satisfied in terms company’s current data systems and access to data across all areas (Big Data, Digitization, Data warehousing and IoT). The UK was least satisfied overall, followed closely by France.
3. The skills shortage remains top of the agenda
As referenced in point one, the Global Data and Analytics Trends Report shows that almost half of respondents (48%) of global organizations want to see an increase in data and analytics training, highlighting it as a global area for improvement. The amount of data being generated across organizations is growing exponentially and this trend is set to continue, with nearly all respondents recognizing the key benefits of having an effective data and analytics system in place.
However, businesses will only realize their potential if they invest in the right skills, systems and training to equip their teams with the knowledge to manage the increase in data volumes so that they can interpret the information in a way that can add value to the bottom line.
4. 40% of organisations surveyed would like to see investment in better data management systems
Despite this skills shortage, it does appear more businesses are looking to embrace this growth in data. When asked what changes they would personally make to data and analytics in the next two years, 40% of respondents said they would like to see investment in better data management systems. Key issues cited were being able to identify problems sooner, improving reaction time to these problems and providing a competitive edge. Additionally, just over one third of respondents wanted like to see an increase in senior leadership buy-in for data and analytics within their organization.
5. …Yet only 6 in 10 organisations surveyed are satisfied with current systems
According to the findings, about 40% of organizations surveyed lack satisfaction or are neutral about their data management systems, despite the majority of respondents believing that the adoption or increase of data integration models will have a positive impact on a myriad of business decisions.
One final point… Customer remains king!
According to the report, the customer is still king with customer relationships and ‘growing the customer base’ cited as the top two business areas that could most benefit from increased use of data analytics. Targeting customers and building a marketing strategy were the other areas that are perceived to benefit the most as a result of increased usage of data analytics.
Organizations globally will need to prioritize the re-focus of resources and investment on up-skilling their teams to address the increased demand for a well-trained workforce in data and analytics. As ever-changing customer demands increasingly place pressure on organizations to make the right decision in order to gain an advantage over their competitors, we seem to be on the verge of having global workforce that places data and analytics at the helm of all business processes and decision-making.
To find out more about the research, click here.
Martin leads Teradata’s EMEA technology pre-sales function and organisation and is jointly responsible for driving sales and consumption of Teradata solutions and services throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Prior to taking up his current appointment, Martin ran Teradata’s Global Data Foundation practice and led efforts to modernise Teradata’s delivery methodology and associated tool-sets. In this position, Martin also led Teradata’s International Practices organisation and was charged with supporting the delivery of the full suite of consulting engagements delivered by Teradata Consulting – from Data Integration and Management to Data Science, via Business Intelligence, Cognitive Design and Software Development.
Martin was formerly responsible for leading Teradata’s Big Data Centre of Excellence – a team of data scientists, technologists and architecture consultants charged with supporting Field teams in enabling Teradata customers to realise value from their Analytic data assets. In this role Martin was also responsible for articulating to prospective customers, analysts and media organisations outside of the Americas Teradata’s Big Data strategy. During his tenure in this position, Martin was listed in dataIQ’s “Big Data 100” as one of the most influential people in UK data- driven business in 2016. His Strata (UK) 2016 keynote can be found at: www.oreilly.com/ideas/the-internet-of-things-its-the-sensor-data-stupid; a selection of his Teradata Voice Forbes blogs can be found online here; and more recently, Martin co-authored a series of blogs on Data Science and Machine Learning – see, for example, Discovery, Truth and Utility: Defining ‘Data Science’.
Martin holds a BSc (Hons) in Physics & Astronomy from the University of Sheffield and a Postgraduate Certificate in Computing for Commerce and Industry from the Open University. He is married with three children and is a solo glider pilot, supporter of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club, very amateur photographer – and an even more amateur guitarist.
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