Top executives talk a good game when it comes to recognising the value of data analysis in making informed, rapid decisions – but the vast majority fail to put it into practice, according to a new study.
A poll of 200 UK C-level executives found that 43% believe they have made less revenue and 36% said that they have lost customers as a result of slow decision making that could be improved by increased use of data analysis.
“Some 89% are making decisions without data analysis, despite rating data as very significant in the decision-making process,” the report stated.
Meanwhile, 60% of respondents also agreed they needed to make decisions faster than they did even a year ago. Some 81% said decision-making certainly needed to be faster today than five years ago.
“Nearly 74% of survey respondents said that data is vital to decision making and more important than instinct,” NetApp said. And yet 62% said their executive team did not always use data when making decisions.
“Only 44% of executive respondents feel that the technology infrastructure always supports their decision-making needs,” it said.
Meanwhile 39% said the infrastructure usually supports them, while 14% said it only does so occasionally.
“However, 97% of respondents reported that their organisations either have or plan to adopt new technologies to help them make decisions more quickly. Where these new systems are already in place, 81% of executives [in this survey] reported significant or very significant time savings when accessing data,” NetApp said.
The survey was carried out by content marketing provider Vanson Bourne across a variety of different sized UK businesses.
