Companies are losing revenue by not exploiting data

Oracle argues that many companies are guilty of data mismanagement

Many UK companies are missing opportunities to grow their business by mismanaging their data.

This is the conclusion of a report released by software company Oracle called The Data Dilemma: From Obstacle to Opportunity.

The report includes information from a survey of 500 IT managers and CIOs in UK organisations with more than 250 employees.

A third of respondents admitted to losing customers or new business deals as a result of data mishandling.

Oracle UK technology director David Rajan said that these lost opportunities are a result of approaching data in the wrong way.

"You might save £1m with some new technology that speeds up your processes or frees up staff, but what about the £4m you could have made by enabling the organisation to innovate? That comes from viewing your data as an opportunity."

Chris Downs, founder of levelbusiness.com, a site that offers free information on company accounts and directors, says that data is seen as a liability and not as an opportunity.

"Businesses are burdened by data. They view it as something they're obliged to maintain, rather than as a strategic asset."

He added that an understanding of its use is crucial to an appreciation of its value.

"You need to understand who's using the data and how to unlock its value. Data isn't just there for compliance purposes, you need to be more imaginative with it."

Downs argued that data should drive a company's relationship with its customers, and new product development initiatives.

The report revealed that one in five businesses surveyed maintains between 501 and 1,000 individual databases or repositories of data within their organisation.

Rajan said that this fragmentation made it very difficult for companies to derive value from their data.

"The best way for businesses to gain competitive advantage is to have better information, and that won't happen while companies have fragmented data spread across hundreds or even thousands of databases.

"Businesses need to change the way they architect their systems to focus on consolidating data and then running business processes on top of it."