On being data-driven (some numbers)

A few numbers from a Forrester Consulting survey (https://www.ciodive.com/news/data-driven-companies-revenue-coronavirus-covid19/578159/):

• Businesses that rely on data management tools to make decisions are 58% more likely to beat their revenue goals.

• Companies leveraging data see an 8% boost in customer trust and a 173% advantage in efficiently complying with regulations.

What do these numbers tell us?

They tell us that moving into data-driven business models is crucial for organizations to thrive in increasingly complex, dynamic, and competitive markets.

They tell us that becoming a data-driven creates the capability to generate new efficiencies within existing business models, optimizing assets and resources, reducing costs, increasing profitability, improving customer engagement, and enabling new business models.

They tell us that being data-driven enables organizations to act effectively and swiftly to increasing demands from their business, their customers, and the market.

They tell us that driving innovation with data, investing on analytics, managing data as a business asset, developing well-articulated data strategies, and creating a data culture are priorities.

What’s behind these numbers?

These numbers don’t show that this is not the reality for most organizations that started this journey. It is important to be aware that for most organizations the results of digitalization processes fall short from the objectives and will settle for dilution of value and mediocre performance, confronted with a situation where they simply assume that the investment was wasted and worse than that, accept to live with mediocre, under-performing solutions – expensive failures.

Deriving value from the investment needed to become data-driven is a challenge, for organizations locked in legacy data environments, business processes, skill sets, and change resistant cultures, as they struggle to enable their data capabilities.

Behind these numbers is the awareness that the transformation process that leads to a data-driven organization must be wholeheartedly supported on the business strategy and objectives – not on technology. The purpose is to create business value, so the transformation strategy, must be oriented towards the organization's strategic priorities and key business objectives.

Behind these numbers is the business prerogative to determine what are the priorities and objectives of the transformation, especially when most of the transformations tend to be customer oriented, and who better that the business to have the necessary awareness and knowledge of the customers’ expectations.

Behind these numbers is a business-driven transformation - where all initiatives are and oriented by the business units and grounded on clear business use cases – aligned with strategical business objectives.