Companies are struggling to cope with a data deluge and although many accept data is a strategic asset they are not equipped to make the most out of it, according to a new report.
The report, called The Data Dilemma: From Obstacle to Opportunity, was carried out by Vanson Bourne on behalf of Oracle. It found that while 88% of businesses see data as a strategic asset, 66% are worried about their ability to gain "actionable intelligence" from their data. Similarly 75% of respondents said they are concerned about the quality and accuracy of the data they hold.
Just under half (45%) said their biggest frustration is analysing and deriving value from their data.
This is unsurprisingly having a negative impact at many businesses, with one-third of respondents claiming they had lost a customer or new business deal as a result of "missing" data and the same figure also admitting to losing businesses due to "mishandling" data.
Oracle wasn’t able to clearly define what it meant by "missing" data but suggested that it was essentially when a business doesn’t have the data to hand when it needs it – whether that is because it simply doesn’t have the data or does have it but is unable to derive the right information about it, such as a clothes shop knowing if it has an item in stock, Oracle told CBR.
David Rajan, Oracle UK technology director, said that many businesses are looking at data as a technology problem rather than an asset that is there to be exploited. "It’s a lost opportunity," he said. "Companies don’t have the right eye on the right opportunity and aren’t viewing data as a strategic asset."
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This point was backed up by Chris Downs, founder of levelbusiness.com, an Old Street-based start-up that offers free data on Companies House accounts and director information. "Businesses often look at data as a burden or a challenge, which then becomes a liability. If you can get value out of it it’s an asset."
One of the primary problems, according to Rajan, is that for a lot of businesses data is spread far and wide. The survey found that almost one in five have between 501 and 1,000 data repositories/databases in their organisation. Additionally only one in 20 organisations have data that is completely integrated across all enterprise systems. Just under one in five (18%) claim each system holds its own data and is not at all integrated.
Rajan suggested that consolidation of data repositories is the way forward. "Systems should be architected to enable the consolidation of data. The best way for businesses to get competitive advantage is to have better information, and that won’t happen while companies have fragmented data spread across hundreds or even thousands of databases."
However Downs added that consolidation is just part of the journey to treating data as a business asset. "You need to look at what you are consolidating and why – who needs it and what will they derive from it? You need to understand data, consolidate it, and then use it."
David Corney from the Science and Technology Facilities Council agreed. "Consolidation is part of the answer, not all of it. Users have to have a complete understanding of the data and all the issues that surround it."
The survey spoke to 500 IT directors and CIOs from UK businesses with over 250 employees.
