In August, FT Remark, a research service from the Financial Times Group, surveyed 144 CFOs and CIOs at global organisations on KPMG Capital’s behalf. The organisations all had more than $1 billion in annual turnover.
The survey found that more than 99 percent of organisations believe data and analytics is at least somewhat important to their business, with 69 percent believing that it is crucially important or very important. Fifty-six percent of respondents said they had changed their business strategy to meet the challenges of data and analytics – generally to increase their capacity to analyse big data.
“Long before the term ‘big’ was first applied to data, organisations were struggling to make sense of all the information they had,” says Mark Toon, CEO, KPMG Capital and Global Leader, D&A. “Over the past five years that focus on data has started to shift. Today, the issue is no longer about owning the most data but rather about how to gain the most insight from it. In short, how to turn data into insights, and insights into real business advantage.”
“Data is everywhere, telling us everything,” he adds. “But do companies really know where to look? The reality is that turning mountains of data into valuable, practical and actionable business analytics is not nearly as straightforward as people believe.
“The fact that executives are expressing uncertainty about their data and analytics capabilities means that they are starting to ask the right questions and think more strategically about data and analytics.”
While executives recognise the value of Big Data, 96 percent say that untapped benefits remain on the table. In fact, 85 percent say they face challenges implementing the correct solutions to accurately analyse and interpret their existing data and 75 percent say they find it difficult to make decisions around data and analytics. 40 percent say they are wrestling with integrating data technology into their existing systems and business models.
Executives unsure how to become data-driven
“One of the biggest challenges, in our experience, is that most business executives have a far-too-limited view of data and what they can ask analytics to do,” says Toon. “It’s no longer just about data management business or technology; it’s about being able to easily tap the data at your disposal to learn new things and gain greater insight about your business. And by doing so, driving improved business performance.”
On the other hand, KPMG says the fact that executives are expressing uncertainty about their data and analytics capabilities means that they are starting to ask the right questions and think more strategically about the enterprise value of data and analytics. To tackle the challenges they’re facing and truly operationalise their data, organisations need to change in a number of ways.
Operationalising data and analytics
First and foremost, organisations will need to cultivate an analytical workforce.
“Executives need to find ways to encourage their workforce to be more analytical in their decision making,” says Brad Fisher, D&A leader for KPMG in the U.S. “From there, organisations should quickly start to see analytics driving their overall people performance, their operational performance, their customer performance and their selling performance.”
Likewise, organisations need to break down their data silos to get an enterprise-wide, 360-degree view of their data, whether it resides inside or outside the organisation. And that is not necessarily a technology play.
“The challenge is to leverage your internal data and your big data by using analytics to drive the systems,” says Eddie Short, EMA leader for D&A at KPMG. “But the reality is that operationalising D&A does not necessarily mean new systems and tools; rather it is about blending old-school business intelligence with new-world big data and analytics to drive both your legacy and your emerging IT strategies.”
Perhaps most importantly, the key to successfully undertaking any data and analytics initiative is to start by asking yourself exactly what you’re trying to achieve.
“Zeroing in on the business problems and identifying key hypotheses may not be the easiest thing to achieve up front, but it is far more efficient and effective in the longer term,” says Anthony Coops, Partner, KPMG, Australia. “Throwing all available data into a pot and hoping for a tasty stew of insights will rarely – if ever-deliver meaningful results.”
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