Computing research reveals that more than half of firms struggle to finance key analytics projects
More than half of UK firms are struggling to finance their analytics projects, despite strong business demand.
This is one of the findings of recent Computing research into the state of analytics at organisations in the UK.
When firms were asked what organisations look for in their analytics tools, 61 per cent described their top need as "self-service ability to create visualisation and ad hoc analysis". Just behind that choice, 56 per cent chose the "ability to integrate and blend data from multiple sources".
However actual adoption of this functionality is currently being hindered at 51 per cent of organisations by lack of budget, according to the research.
"This is an ironic finding given that it is executive decision-making that could be so much more informed if the right analytics tools were available," states the research paper. "The budgets issue once again underlines the importance of visualisation in data analytics - if executives cannot physically see how a product is performing and how it is benefiting them, they are unlikely to sign off on such projects," it continues.
The research also found that only 12 per cent of respondents currently benefit from advanced analytics and visualisation tools, allowing analysis of all types of data and leading to actionable insight. Just under a third described their analytics as static, without a great level of insight, and nine per cent said they had no business analytics tools at all, suggesting that the budget problem may be even more widespread than feared.
Finally, when respondents were asked about the advantaged of embedding analytics tools for end users into their products, 70 per cent said that it increases customer satisfaction and long-term retention rates.
In addition to customer retention, such tools can also aid acquisition, with 34 per cent stating that the tools enable growth through gaining new customers.
