Salesforce, the multinational customer relationship management (CRM) solutions provider, on Thursday, April 27, released its Untapped Data Research report, in which it found that business leaders are struggling to put data into practice to quickly make strategic business decisions and navigate economic uncertainties because they can't make sense of it.
With the proper training on data skills, data can help business leaders make better decisions, earn trust, and reduce uncertainty — even amid challenging times, the report says. The global survey was conducted in partnership with YouGov with total sample size of 9,837 business leaders and decision-makers, including 1,095 in India.
As per the survey, while the respondents know using data is important to their business, the vast majority is not harnessing its power for better decision-making and business results.
Key findings
"While companies agree on the advantages of using data, there’s a clear disconnect from how they’re actually using it in practice. For example, a majority of companies aren’t actually using their data to make critical business decisions," the report reads.
Data creates efficiency and trust amid uncertainty
"When integrated and leveraged correctly, data has huge potential to build efficiency and trust among both customers and employees," the report adds.
The need to close the digital skills gap
The report says Indian business leaders are being paralysed by the influx of data, their knowledge of how to best operationalise it, and how to use it to invest strategically going forward.
To address these concerns, 85 percent of companies are planning to continue or increase spending on data skills development and training for employees, the survey finds, adding that data literacy training for employees "can establish a data culture that supports business goals and improves resilience during the tough economic climate."
“Today, businesses are facing headwinds and data can help solve these critical challenges as it enables faster, smarter decisions,” says Anjali Amar, Regional Vice President, Tableau, at Salesforce India. “Businesses need to truly become data-driven, starting at the top in order to uncover opportunities to grow, while finding operational and cost efficiencies,” she added.
Juan Perez, Chief Information Officer, Salesforce, said business leaders are experiencing one of the toughest economic markets of our time.
"But they have an untapped advantage for better decision-making — their data. The secret to driving true insights is marrying data with analytics. A combination of data, analytics, and the necessary data skills enables companies to maximise their technology investments and uncover opportunities that drive business strategy and strengthen customer trust,” said Perez.
