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MicroStrategy Study: Nearly All Real-Time Enterprise Decisions are Data-Deprived

Nearly 95% of companies say data and analytics is important to their digital transformation and business growth, but 60% of employees say it takes hours or even days to get the information they need, and only 3% have the data they need to make real-time decisions.

That’s according to a report — “2020 Global State of Enterprise Analytics” — from enterprise analytics and mobility software firm MicroStrategy, which found that most organizations are a long ways from enabling a data-driven culture, with front-line employees being data-deprived and having the least access to data and analytics, compared to executives and management.

“Shockingly, when it comes to making data-driven decisions, the majority of the workforce is still winging it,” said Marge Breya, senior EVP and CMO of MicroStrategy. “With self-service analytics adoption hovering at 30%, organizations need to surface insights in a timely manner that benefits the entire workforce. Sixty-five percent of organizations plan to increase their analytics investments in the next year. We recommend those investments go toward building an insights-first culture that rewards data-driven decision-making and continuous transformation—the essential foundation of an Intelligent Enterprise.”

Among those who aren’t adept at analytics, but are tasked with making a data-driven decision, 79% have to ask IT or a business analyst for help, according to the report, and only 7% use a self-service tool.

However, the report did find that investments in analytics initiatives, including talent and technology, are increasing, with 75% of large enterprises and 59% of smaller companies saying they will invest more in talent, and 79% of large enterprises and 60% of smaller companies saying they will invest more in technology.

“It’s no longer realistic to think that a single tool is going to serve all of an organization’s needs or cater to varying users’ capability levels,” the report reads. “Therefore, organizations should consider an open platform approach to enterprise analytics that ensures a secure, governed, scalable, high-performance environment. This openness allows other tools to tap into trusted enterprise data, blend information from multiple systems, and quickly build content — without users having to give up their favorite data sciences, AI, and self-service BI tools.”

The report recommends that organizations enable every person to have access to actionable insights immediately, with tools, applications and services that match each user’s abilities. Users need governed, trusted enterprise data assets and systems that improve with use to gain analytics insights, the report concludes.

Brazil and Germany had the highest rate of front-line employees that have access to an organization’s data and analytics, at 58%. The U.S. was the lowest at 44%.