Whenever a teacher gives out bad grades, the kindest way to share bad news is to explain ‘room for improvement’ — that approach is key to a University of Texas research project showing how some companies are using business intelligence and analytics tools to capitalize on the massive amounts of data being produced every day. The study led by McCombs School of Business Prof. Anitesh Barua found corporations have LOTS of untapped potential. In plain English, you’d call that ‘leaving money on the table.’ “We show that in the median Fortune 1000 business, increasing the usability of data by just 10 percent translates to an increase in $2.01 billion in total revenue every year,” he says. In short, operational improvement using data.
In a series of reports by Texas Enterprise — a new online business review from University of Texas-Austin — Barua examines the gap separating data from action that can yield results and profits. The ability to introduce new products that are needed in the market is just one response enabled by business intelligence, yet many CIOs and other top executives view data and technology systems as projects to be completed, not as assets that can be optimized for ongoing data analysis.
Studying more than 150 companies worldwide, the researchers found the gaps where companies often under-use or undervalue the data they already possess. And other examples of companies had quantifiable opportunities to grow their customer base or expand their product/service offerings if only they better-managed the accuracy of planning, forecasting and charting a data-driven future.
Dr. Barua and researchers at the Indian School of Business examined four features of data inside corporations: quality, intelligence, usability and mobility. Each of those characteristics are on the rise meaning companies should be getting smarter, faster.
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David Wallace
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