Whilst the quote attributed to Thomas Jefferson, “information is the currency of democracy”, is almost certainly apocryphal, it does carry a definite kernel of truth. In a world of analytics and data capture, the price we place on information has never been higher. And it seems it’s not just marketing teams who are placing a pound value on data – research from analytics provider SAS has shown that one in five large UK businesses assign a financial figure to the their data.
The worth of your data really cannot be overestimated. A study by the Centre for Economics and Business Research recently calculated that better utilisation of big data – data sets which are particularly complex, either being ‘high-volume’, ‘high-velocity’ or ‘high-variety’ – could potentially add £216bn to the economy over the next five years, which is over a fifth of the UK’s net debt.
Fortunately UK companies are starting to recognise this. According to the SAS report, over two-fifths of CFOs believe that effective use of data can help to drive their businesses’ growth. This figure rises to 57% for larger companies and to nearly three-quarters in the case of ventures that have assessed the value of their data. Being able to put a cash value on your data is clearly a key step in making the best use of it.
But exactly how can data be utilised to improve your business? According to The Evolution of Decision-Making, a report from Harvard Business Review Analytic Services, 73% of UK businesses have benefitted from the use of analytics. As a result of utilising their data over two-thirds have seen improved financial performance, 65% have been able to introduce cost reductions and well over half felt it had resulted in faster decision-making. Given the Harvard Business Review study also revealed that two in every five businesses felt analytics were underused in their organisation, this definitely forms a strong case for making the most of your data.
