New research outlines three key data pillars which, harnessed effectively, define how companies can pioneer the successful use of data.
Harnessing data effectively is a key attribute of the world’s leading companies, giving them a competitive advantage through the ability to quickly gain insights and advance innovation.
The ‘Data for Humanity’ report by Lenovo polled senior executives in organizations with revenues of $500 million or more across five countries to explore how the world’s largest businesses are harnessing data, and where they see opportunities to use it to meet their goals and draw an advantage in a competitive landscape.
The Data Leaders are an elite group identified through the research that have enacted successful strategies across three key pillars of Data Management, Data Analytics and Data Security, enabling them to use data more effectively across business functions.
These data-centred organisations have consequently seen a myriad of benefits, and in the past 12 months have successfully increased revenue (78 per cent) and improved customer satisfaction (70 per cent). The Data Leaders are also far less likely to have experienced the effects of poor employee productivity (13 per cent) and reduced innovation (10 per cent).
Business leaders state that over the next five years, they are most likely to invest in: Cybersecurity tools (59 per cent); Artificial intelligence (AI) tools (55 per cent); Data analytics tools (57 per cent) and Data storage (55 per cent)
Other aspects seen as vital to extracting data capabilities include increasing automation of data management and/or analysis (89 per cent) and improving the use of different types of data, such as external and unstructured data (88 per cent).
Organisations are currently seeing success across some areas. Most leaders feel that their data solution is scalable (58 per cent), highly automated (57 per cent), and simple for employees to use (55 per cent). Many also feel that their current tools and technologies improve visibility, helping to provide a single view of all the data across the business (54 per cent), and have the majority of their data stored in the cloud (52 per cent).
Yet only half are happy with their current data platform, and almost a quarter feel that they are lagging behind competitors in this space. Security and skills are both cited as key areas holding businesses back, in addition to struggles with internal communication and data integration. Over half also struggle to access their data from anywhere, an increasingly important factor in the hybrid working era.
“With the three key data pillars playing a prominent role in future IT investment, it’s only a matter of time before we see more organisations become Data Leaders as they continue to harness new tools and solutions,” said Giovanni Di Filippo, EMEA president, Lenovo infrastructure solutions group.
“Every business is at a different phase of its data journey – some have only just begun, while others are at a more mature stage along the way. Our research suggests much of the same when it comes to Data Management and Analytics; organizations have laid the foundations by storing the majority of their data in the cloud and implementing solutions that bring scalability, simplicity and visibility. But there is scope to go much further, particularly when it comes to making data more accessible and giving it the means to inform or make decisions. To achieve this, organisations need support from technology providers, and partners must work together to enable the most optimal solutions.”
