The State of
Data Innovation 2021
See how organizations with more mature data
practices can seize opportunity — and take a visual
tour of the Advanced Data Enterprise.
Take a tour of the Advanced Data Enterprise
Success
Data-led innovation gives you
your edge
Innovation is evolution, and in most industries, digital technology is accelerating the rate of change. We surveyed 1,250 organizations worldwide, and across the board, they say data is helping them innovate to achieve:
- Higher customer satisfaction (60% of respondents report)
- Successful entry into new markets (54%)
- Better customer conversion rates (48%)
- Increased spend per customer (47%)
- Improved customer retention (45%)
Transformation
Innovation leaders change …
everything
Leaders — those with the best data practices and innovation cultures — are two to three times as likely as beginner-level organizations to say they have fundamentally changed:
- Sales and marketing (47% of leaders say so, vs. 23% of beginners)
- Customer service (50% vs. 19%)
- Supply chain/distribution (38% vs. 17%)
- Manufacturing/operations (38% vs. 14%)
- Finance (44% vs. 14%)
- Software engineering (45% vs. 20%)
Using advanced analytics helped us identify operational bottlenecks and workforce inefficiencies. We were able to calibrate scalability.
Obstacles
Roadblocks to data maturity
Respondents identified the challenges that make data harder to leverage for innovation.
- Only 29% of orgs have a classification system that defines most/all data.
- Only 40% have comprehensive data aggregation, and 29% say that some or all lines of business keep their own data separate/hidden.
- Only 39% of orgs say that their data quality is known and measured comprehensively.
- Only about 1 in 5 orgs say that all or most of their employees have the skills and tools they need to appropriately access the data to do their jobs well.
