The survey of 600 senior managers at more than 500 blue-chip organizations showed 45 percent house data in isolated parts of their organization, and more than half (52 percent) house analytical talent separately from the relevant data at their organization. Nearly one-third (30 percent) of U.S. respondents and 13 percent of U.K. and Ireland counterparts said that their organizations do not have any professionals dedicated to analytics. Additionally, half (51 percent) said they have more opportunities to use analytics to improve the business than they have analytical resources to exploit them.
The findings indicate that little has changed since 2008, when an Accenture survey found that 40 percent of business decisions were based on judgment rather than business analytics, often due to a lack of good data. But companies are committed to improving. More than two-thirds (71 percent) of respondents said their organization’s senior management is totally or highly committed to analytics and fact-based decision-making.
“The fact that the long-term analytical priority among organizations is to be able to model and predict behavior, actions and decisions shows an increasing understanding that it is about much more than the collection and storage of data,” says Dave Rich, managing direct of the Accenture Analytics Group. According to Rich, organizations are moving toward an integrated framework that employs quantitative methods to derive actionable insights from data and improve outcomes.
Valerie Valentine is senior editor for Information Management. You can follow her on Twitter @ValValentineIM.
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