NEW YORK (November 3, 2015)—According to a new report developed by Forbes Insights, in cooperation with EY, “2015 EY/Forbes Insights Data & Analytics Impact Index: Don’t Forget the Human Element,” people and culture are critical to realizing business value in data and analytics. While most organizations are primarily focused on technology and tools, it is ultimately people who will translate data and insights from analytics into business outcomes.
“This report illustrates the need for organizations to develop an effective business strategy to compete in today’s data-driven world,” said Chris Mazzei, Principal, Ernst & Young LLP and EY Chief Analytics Officer. “Technology is no longer a strong enough differentiating factor among organizations—companies must invest in people and recognize the importance of the human element if they are to reap the benefits of their analytics initiatives.”
As enterprises invest in people and develop an analytics driven-culture, they evolve into leaders within their sectors. But as the Forbes Insights/EY research indicates, most enterprises are only beginning their journey to becoming analytics-driven organizations.
“For a lot of companies, the bottleneck to creating value is not data, technology or advanced analytics skill sets,” said Forbes Insights’ Bruce Rogers, Chief Insights Officer. “It’s a question of, once we have the insights from analytics, what are we doing with it? At the end of the day, success still involves people making different decisions and changing business processes.”
There is a segment of executives in the survey whose enterprises have achieved higher levels of maturity and are seeing competitive advantage as a result of their data analytics initiatives. This top 10% of enterprises are identified in the survey results and compared with “the rest” in the Data Analytics Impact Index, which measures four key categories: strategy and leadership; analytics production; and analytics consumption, both organizational and individual.
Other key findings include:
- Analytics is central to business strategy among leading enterprises. A majority (54%) of executives with leading analytics organizations report that analytics is central to their overall business strategy, versus about one in 10 of respondents in the remaining lagging or learning enterprises.
- Leading enterprises have advanced data management capabilities. Close to half of executives in the top 10% of analytics-driven enterprises report that their businesses have implemented an enterprise-wide data architecture, and that their data is of high quality and readily accessible. By contrast, only about one in 10 of the remainder of respondents can say this.
- Leading enterprises embrace change management to advance analytics vision. Change management is an important component of the top 10% of enterprises’ overall data analytics initiatives. Almost three in five leaders embrace change management as “extremely” important, versus about one-third of the rest.
- Leading enterprises have aligned their organizations around analytics. The top 10% in the survey have been able to organize and establish governance around their data analytics efforts. A majority indicate that their enterprise, department and lines-of-business data and analytics groups exist and are well aligned, versus only 13% of the rest.
To find out where your organization stands on the data analytics maturity curve, take the short assessment here. Use the customized, downloadable .pdf report to educate and persuade your organization to take action.
About this research
The insights and commentary found in this report are derived from both a survey and qualitative interviews with leading executives. In conjunction with EY, Forbes Insights conducted a global survey of 564 senior executives in June 2015. Thirty-two percent of the executives are based in the Asia/ Pacific Rim region, 40% are in the Americas, and 28% are in EMEA. All are C-level executives, of whom 11% are chief executives or presidents of their organizations.
About EY
EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.
EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. For more information about our organization, please visit www.ey.com/analytics
About Forbes Insights
Forbes Insights is the strategic research and thought leadership practice of Forbes Media, publisher of Forbes magazine and Forbes.com, whose combined media properties reach nearly 75 million business decision makers worldwide on a monthly basis. Taking advantage of a proprietary database of senior-level executives in the Forbes community, Forbes Insights conducts research on a host of topics of interest to C-level executives, senior marketing professionals, small business owners and those who aspire to positions of leadership, as well as providing deep insights into issues and trends surrounding wealth creation and wealth management.
Contacts:
EY
Aparna Sankaran
EY Global Media Relations
+44 7480245082
Forbes Insights
Laura Daunis
212-367-4874
ldaunis@forbes.com
