Top Barriers to Using Analytics: Lack of Centralized Data Collection

The logistics of implementing a data collection and analytics system is one reason why some businesses haven’t taken the leap to fully integrating analytics in their businesses. According to recent research, however, that isn’t the main challenge: the top barriers to leverage analytics are the lack of a centralized data collection system and the lack of a technology infrastructure to support it.

Deloitte’s recent Analytics Advantage Survey found that sales intelligence and analytics programs at business in many industries around the world: 1) have a wide variety of executives managing the programs, 2) don’t have data collection and analysis in use across the enterprise, and 3) are severely limited by the cost of the technology required to implement enterprise-wide data collection and analysis systems.

Who oversees data analysis and sales intelligence?
Respondents to the survey reported many different answers to the question of which executive oversees and manages data collection and analysis. Almost a quarter (20%) said no single executive manages a company’s data, meaning the burden is spread across multiple departments.
In addition,
9% said the CEO
18% said the CFO
15% said the CIO
5% said the CMO
5% cited a different c-suite exec
23% rely on business unit leaders or division heads
4% said they have a chief analytics officer or equivalent
Power struggles over sales intelligence data limit effectiveness of analytics.
The less coordinated a company’s data collection and analysis systems are, the more likely any such program will be ineffective. Of those who responded to Deloitte’s survey:
20% said their business has uncoordinated pockets of analytical activity
38% reported having localized analytics capabilities that are beginning to share tools, data and people
30% said they rely on a central analytical group with some coordination over analytical activity across the enterprise
Only 12% have a truly effective, and cost-effective, central collection and analysis group with close coordination across the enterprise
Uncoordinated collection and analysis leads to poor quality data.
Even worse than the costs generated by poorly organized collection and analysis is the fact that data gathered under those circumstances is of poor quality and therefore not an effective tool for driving business decisions.
The survey found:
4% reported their current data and systems to be poor
62% said the collection, analysis, and collaboration procedures were either not integrated in any meaningful way or were adequate but could be improved
Just over one third of respondents (34%) said they were generally happy with their analytics programs or felt their programs were excellent
The solution is cloud-based centralized contact governance.
Businesses looking to improve the quality and usefulness of their sales intelligence and analytics can do so in a couple of ways:
1) Unite disparate systems and processes
2) Centralize data from silos of geographically dispersed offices or independent business units
3) And, if necessary, hire data scientists or invest in staff to make the most out of the data
Gryphon offers centralized contact governance tools that not only unite sales intelligence data in a single repository accessible by every unit, office or agent through the cloud, but also collect that data automatically and generates easy-to-use reports that are available on-demand. This makes analysis possible for any user who needs it and coordinates analytic measures across businesses of any size to provide a consolidated view of activity to maximize its effectiveness.