Almost nine out of 10 (88%) C-level executives agree that Business intelligence (BI) and data analytics will be crucial to the future of their business, but just 17% say their business intelligence strategy is championed by a senior member of the business with enterprise-wide standards to govern technology. These are the findings of a new report “Plotting the data journey in the boardroom”, which reveals a clear disconnect between the perceived need for Business Intelligence (BI) in the boardroom and the strategies that are actually being put in place. 

 

The report, commissioned by MHR Analytics, a leading provider of business analytics, explores boardroom attitudes to data analytics and is based on interviews with 300 UK C-level executives.  It reveals that 59% of C-suite executives say they don’t understand big data as much as they would like to and just over half (52%) say its difficult to put together a business case for big data.

 

The research plots the progress of UK organisations on the journey to data maturity against a new BI maturity model, representing the five distinct stages of the data analytics path, from Unaware to Transformational. It found that a third (33%) are still at the very beginning of their data maturity journey, at the unaware stage, where there is no senior buy-in and no defined processes for analytics, decision making or performance metrics.

 

More optimistically one fifth of organisations (18%) are beginning to develop a standards-led approach and 30% have reached the transformative stage with an enterprise-wide data strategy that drives cross-functional decision-making and uses analytics to generate revenue, operate efficiently or provide best-in-class customer service.

 

Nick Felton, Director of MHR Analytics commented: “It’s clear from our research that C-level executives are beginning to recognise how critical data analytics will be for the future of their business. In 2017 we expect to see organisations looking at how they can take their data strategy to the next level. Ultimately every company should be aiming to reach the Transformative stage where data is defining competitive advantage and driving revenues.

 

“With the abundance of information that’s available today, businesses are turning to BI to unlock the power of the data that their activities generate in order to become more competitive players in their respective industries. This is a trend that’s here to stay and in order to get the most out of their BI projects, businesses need to create a strategy that spans the entire organisation with a consistent approach across all departments and business units.”

 

The report also explores the drivers, challenges and roadblocks that organisations will face in their big data strategies over the next twelve months and critically, explains in detail how organisations can reach the next stage of their data journey and move up the maturity curve.