It’s been a long time since we’ve heard of the importance of data for companies, regardless of its size. And it is that, as is known, data management and analysis It will allow decisions to be made, which affect the business, based on knowledge, so risks are reduced. Its importance is such that, according to a survey carried out at European level by the technology consultancy Devoteam together with IDC, 73% of Spanish companies invest up to 50% of their IT budget in data analysis.
The objective of the survey was to know the degree of maturity of the companies, as well as the importance of data for them. According to the classification, the company has considered the following three degrees of maturity:
- Data Beginner: companies that make limited use of data, their strategy is not data-driven at all, except for some autonomously launched projects, and the environment in which they operate is not yet technically adapted.
- DataExplorer: Companies that use data on a larger scale are aware of its benefits, but are not prepared to monetize data or actively use it to innovate new products and services.
- Data Thriver: companies with a holistic approach to data. They spend a significant portion of their IT budget continually adapting their infrastructures and processes to provide the key metrics needed for rapid strategic decision making.
According to survey data, Spanish companies are already making use of the data. In fact, 45.17% confirm that they use data for decision making, specifically, 47.14% acknowledge that Between one-third and one-half of business decisions is based on the data, while 41.43% state that it is more than half.
Improve and optimize processes, and innovate products and services
Current corporate strategies are based, for the most part, on data, but what are they pursuing through it? 37.14% try to improve and optimize processes and operations, while another 34.29% use them to improve and innovate in products, services or programs. Avoid or prevent fraud and manage risk it is, for 32.8%, the most relevant in terms of data use.
But it does not stop there, since the data can help all areas of the company. For example, 20% look for work processes within the Human Resources area.
What is clear is that the data is here to stay, so much so that, according to the survey, within the next two years, 72.86% of companies will commit to training their current workforce in new disciplines technological, for deal with internal and external customer demands. This percentage places Spain in second position with respect to the rest of the countries surveyed, with Portuguese companies being the ones that will invest the most in internal development. Meanwhile, the rest decide to hire or choose a suitable technology partner to guide and help them towards the goal of being a data-driven company.
But become a data-driven company goes much further, because after having a well-trained workforce, it is important to know the best way to analyze the data in order to make the most appropriate decisions. For this reason, other strategies that companies follow is to put into practice good data governance, privacy and regulatory compliance (45.17%); integrate AI into business processes (44.29%); o Automate data and AI to be more predictive (30%).
