Dive Brief:
- Broader access to data across the enterprise correlates to higher ROI on analytics technologies, according to an IDC study released Monday, which surveyed 1,501 IT leaders on behalf of data analytics software company Alteryx.
- Data governance and optimal deployment of analytics capabilities remain a challenge for many companies. Nine of 10 respondents said their company has not fully leveraged its data technologies, reporting that less than half of business decisions are analytics-based.
- Companies with improved financial metrics utilized workforce analytics skills more effectively, provided workers with easy access to data and had at least a quarter of knowledge workers active in using analytics technologies.
Dive Insight:
Companies invested in data technologies have not fully optimized that spend, according to the survey.
Nine in 10 respondents said their company has not made full use of existing workforce analytics skills and only one in five reported adequate spending on upskilling.
“They're buying technology, but they’re not really teaching people how to use it or how to optimize their use with it,” said Jason Klein, product marketing director at Alteryx.
Data can drive revenue, but only if companies commit to workforce data literacy training, analytics upskilling and governance policies that spread data wealth. Companies that limit data access to a “few small pockets and don’t democratize data technologies face ROI challenges,” Klein said.
There are a number of roadblocks to data democratization, including talent shortages, data integration problems, security concerns and misalignment between the business and technology functions within an organization, according to Klein. The latter can lead to a “shadow IT dynamic,” Klein said.
As talent is onboarded and workforces are upskilled, companies should look to governance policies that protect information while also providing data access to as much of the workforce as possible.
“It doesn't necessarily mean that everyone is crunching the numbers,” Klein said. “It means that everyone is contributing to and getting value from the analytics process.”
Correction: In a previous version of this article, Jason Klein, product marketing director at Alteryx, was misidentified as Alan Jacobson, chief data and analytics officer at Alteryx.
