Every year, Experian Data Quality conducts a global study around the trends in data quality and for another year the data has reinforced one common theme—that the management of data is becoming an increasingly fundamental focus for businesses to succeed and grow. This year, our 2016 global data management benchmark report shows no signs of deviating from that theme. In fact, not only does it support our findings from an earlier research study that was focused on the emerging chief data officer role, this year’s benchmark report shows that data quality and subsequent data management initiatives are reshaping the very ways in which businesses operate and structure themselves.
A brief synopsis of our study reveals that organizations are recognizing data quality’s importance to the business as a whole, not just the IT portion as has generally been the case. As such, data management projects are being spearheaded by new roles like the chief data officer and being looked at as a foundational aspect of every initiative, rather than an afterthought.
These 10 stats below are some of the most compelling data points from our research. It tells the story of how data quality and data management trends are changing and what to keep an eye out in the coming months.
1. On average, 23% of customer or prospect data is believed to be inaccurate
2. The amount of duplicate data increased 19% in the past year
3. Lack of knowledge and human resources are the two biggest internal challenges to improving data quality
4. 75% of organizations cite email as their most important type of marketing communication in 2016
5. Only 37% of businesses have a centralized data quality strategy
6. On average, organizations believe they could increase overall sales by 29% if all their data was fully accurate and to the highest quality
7. Data cleansing (37%), integration (37%), migration (31%), and enrichment (31%) are the top 4 data management projects for the next 12 months
8. 79% of organizations believe responsibility for data quality should ultimately lie within the business with occasional help from IT
9. Only 14% of businesses have an optimized approach to data quality
10. Going forward, 82% of businesses are looking to employ more ‘data-centric’ roles like data analysts, data scientists, and chief data officers to support their data management strategies
In the coming year, organizations are looking at their data quality and data management initiatives with a much keener lens than years past. From continuing the trend of employing more data-centric roles, to restructuring who owns the responsibility for data within the organization, 2016 is the year where businesses globally look to good data quality and proper data management as the foundational ways to improve their company and their bottom line.
Data is your company’s most valuable asset. Finding out more about what trends and influencers drive advancements within today’s data-oriented environment is the only way to start 2016 off right.
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