Accelerator 1

A robust and flexible data strategy

Accelerator 1

A robust and flexible data strategy

In a world demanding greater operational agility and efficiency, digital technologies can bring together ever-increasing pools of data to solve challenges and transform business.

Our survey finds that many organizations have revised or rebuilt their data strategies at speed since the onset of the pandemic – and must continue to do so to stay relevant.

of digital leaders say that the pandemic accelerated the urgency with which their organizations are improving their data strategies

But they need to get going. Almost half of digital leaders surveyed (46%) say their organizations failed to meet targets over the past year, as a direct result of limited access to data.

In the current market, changing your data strategy without linking it clearly to the business and operating model is a recipe for failure.

In a world demanding greater operational agility and efficiency, digital technologies can bring together ever-increasing pools of data to solve challenges and transform business.

Our survey finds that many organizations have revised or rebuilt their data strategies at speed since the onset of the pandemic – and must continue to do so to stay relevant.

of digital leaders say that the pandemic accelerated the urgency with which their organizations are improving their data strategies

But they need to get going. Almost half of digital leaders surveyed (46%) say their organizations failed to meet targets over the past year, as a direct result of limited access to data.

In the current market, changing your data strategy without linking it clearly to the business and operating model is a recipe for failure.

“A good strategy means having high-level goals but remaining flexible. If 2020 has shown us anything, it's that you can't have too rigid a strategy because you never know what's around the corner.”

Diptesh Mishra, Chief Technology Officer, Kroo

How is your sector responding?

Each sector’s response to the data-acceleration challenge depends on how hard it was hit by the COVID-19 crisis and how it plans to become more resilient to shocks in the future.

How businesses have changed their data strategies since the onset of the pandemic, by sector

How is your sector responding?

Each sector’s response to the data-acceleration challenge depends on how hard it was hit by the COVID-19 crisis and how it plans to become more resilient to shocks in the future.

How businesses have changed their data strategies since the onset of the pandemic, by sector

Change with purpose

Businesses are accelerating changes to their data strategies, but those changes have to be meaningful.

“Organizations must optimize their strategies and tactics to serve employees at all levels, by making sure they have data from which they can draw insights to subsequently meet performance targets and goals,” says Dr David Snelling, Program Director Artificial Intelligence at Fujitsu.

It is clear that the data strategies of today – an assortment of tools, processes, and rules that define how to manage, analyze and act on business data – lack this enterprise-wide accessibility, making it an urgent priority for organizations.

This is particularly the case given the perception gap between individuals in an organization regarding the effectiveness and efficiency of its strategy:

of digital leaders, and

of line-of-business leaders

say they have been less effective at using data to track productivity and performance within the organization since the onset of the pandemic.

There is a more significant gap that emerges when considering external relationships. Business leaders are almost six times more likely than digital leaders to say their ability to tailor, personalize and improve customer experience has been negatively impacted by poor data access since the pandemic.

Change with purpose

Businesses are accelerating changes to their data strategies, but those changes have to be meaningful.

“Organizations must optimize their strategies and tactics to serve employees at all levels, by making sure they have data from which they can draw insights to subsequently meet performance targets and goals,” says Dr David Snelling, Program Director Artificial Intelligence at Fujitsu.

It is clear that the data strategies of today – an assortment of tools, processes, and rules that define how to manage, analyze and act on business data – lack this enterprise-wide accessibility, making it an urgent priority for organizations.

This is particularly the case given the perception gap between individuals in an organization regarding the effectiveness and efficiency of its strategy:

of digital leaders, and

of line-of-business leaders

say they have been less effective at using data to track productivity and performance within the organization since the onset of the pandemic.

There is a more significant gap that emerges when considering external relationships. Business leaders are almost six times more likely than digital leaders to say their ability to tailor, personalize and improve customer experience has been negatively impacted by poor data access since the pandemic.

“We continue to hear calls for more interconnected data sources to enable data-driven 'decision making', but the reality is that little is being done to pool information to drive business impact from formal and informal channels.”

Regina Moran, VP Strategic Projects & Change, Fujitsu

It is vital that firms address this issue – particularly as the challenge most organizations face, once they have a data strategy in place, is scaling it to benefit all departments.

When it comes to customer-experience teams, a significant challenge is the daily increase in costs associated with the storage, management and security of data – despite the decreasing proportion of data used.

There are a few reasons for this. Digital acceleration frequently leaves people, processes and technology misaligned.

“It may sound clichéd to talk about the alignment of IT and business – but it has never been so critical,” says Márcio Gonçalves Cesário, General Manager, Business Strategy, Data & AI at Microsoft. “Bringing those worlds closer is not only possible, but fundamental to success.”

Meanwhile, business leaders often fail to get on board with data strategy from inception, meaning they are unable to take full advantage of the strategy tools made available to them.

It is vital that firms address this issue – particularly as the challenge most organizations face, once they have a data strategy in place, is scaling it to benefit all departments.

When it comes to customer-experience teams, a significant challenge is the daily increase in costs associated with the storage, management and security of data – despite the decreasing proportion of data used.

There are a few reasons for this. Digital acceleration frequently leaves people, processes and technology misaligned.

“It may sound clichéd to talk about the alignment of IT and business – but it has never been so critical,” says Márcio Gonçalves Cesário, General Manager, Business Strategy, Data & AI at Microsoft. “Bringing those worlds closer is not only possible, but fundamental to success.”

Meanwhile, business leaders often fail to get on board with data strategy from inception, meaning they are unable to take full advantage of the strategy tools made available to them.

Data supports operational efficiency in the manufacturing sector

The complex nature of manufacturing operations and supply chains makes a robust data approach critical. Our research finds that many manufacturing organizations understand this.

Manufacturing-sector effectiveness using data for the following, pre-pandemic to post-pandemic:

Responding to issues/making precise interventions

Making improved decisions

For one leading US-based manufacturer, a revised data strategy allowed the company to respond to a spike in demand for one of its products at the onset of the pandemic.