Chasing Digital

CHAPTER 4Data

It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.

Sherlock Holmes

 

Data is often referred to as the new oil, and for good reason. It is the critical fuel for your business’s new economic engine and your digital strategy.

Most pre-digital incumbents have a data value problem. That is, they struggle to gain business value from all the data, or any of the data, they are collecting. This mass of data has become known as big data, with many companies investing heavily in the infrastructure and skills required to support it. According to Dresner Advisory Services’ 2017 Big Data Analytics Market Study, 53 per cent of global companies reported that they ‘use big data today’, compared with 17 per cent in 2015. Notably, there is still regional variation in the use of big data: North America (55 per cent) narrowly leads the Europe, Middle East and Africa region (53 per cent) in its current levels of big-data analytics adoption. Asia–Pacific respondents report 44 per cent current adoption and are most likely to say they ‘may use big data in the future’. However, according to a 2016 survey by technology research company Gartner, of the companies that had invested in big-data capabilities, only 15 per cent reported a live big-data project. This reflects the lack of capability required to drive value from data. Known as the data value gap (see figure 4.1), this is either your biggest threat or your greatest opportunity.

Figure 4.1: the data value gap

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