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Data as a Growth Enabler: Finding the Real Purpose of Data

Real Purpose of Data
Published on Jun 29, 2023

Harnessing data effectively enables businesses to create many opportunities for their brand and solve problems to thrive. But to use and analyze data successfully, employees require access to the right data, along with the technology and resources to support their findings and understand relevant insights. With these critical components in place, organizations are better equipping themselves to address compelling data and analytics use cases and build value for their customers as well as their stakeholders.  

  • By creating immediate value with data and analytics use cases, teams are applying and further developing assets to suit the requirements.  

  • It is further equipping the workforce to drive values, promotes data use, and defines a data culture to generate positive outcomes.  

  • It is driving greater data exploration as well as curiosity, thereby fostering improved collaboration and the ability to break down silos,  

Perception of trust and accountability are also emerging as equally important to realize the value of data. Organizations are incorporating data to drive decision-making to expand and deepen engagement across the business. Intuitive, self-service analytics enables business users to integrate data in a way that is relevant. This way, more people can use data to drive decisions, helping scale analytics and data-driven decision-making.  

Read more: Designing an Effective Data Storage and Management Culture to Simplify Technology Mix  

Real Purpose of Data

Data is still the talk of the town as there is much to be developed to project value growth. It helps in providing data with a purpose. Statista Research Department study stated that the total amount of data produced, captured, replicated, and consumed globally is forecast to increase to more than 180 zettabytes in 2025. But navigating the way to the correct data source is often challenging. And evaluating its accuracy can be a mission impossible for the user.  

Organizations across the globe are leveraging the power of data to increase organizational engagement and foster a data culture. They are integrating teams with a data-first mindset for decision-making and driving value for all the stakeholders. The key element for organizations to claim the win is to inspire their workforce to be a part of the move and decode compelling use cases with data-driven insights.  

A recent study highlighted that the total amount of data created, captured, and consumed across the globe is forecast to rise from 64.2 zettabytes to more than 180 zettabytes by the year 2025. This implies that today we live and operate in such a complex ecosystem, where interconnected systems, operators, and operations are building networks, where the number of data sources is growing rapidly.  

To drive the change, organizations need to cooperate, define a data purpose, and implement tools and processes. They should treat data as an asset that holds the economic value for a business. It must have a defined and understandable purpose for its existence for it to be productive. The data should be aligned and targeted with investment, maintenance, and development. And in order to navigate the correct data source, organizations need to evaluate the accuracy of their data.  

Read more: How are Organizations Benefiting By Turning Data into Purpose?  

Finding Real Purpose of Data  

No Data Benefits without Purpose  

When we look at the figures, we see that we underscore in Finland. The projected value growth of the data market is modest in relation to our digital capabilities, the business conditions based on digital technologies, and key reference countries.  

Data investment initiatives are not triggered by the business per se, and due to this reason, organizations often fail to create tangible long-term benefits. The meaning of data and its purpose in the business context is still unclear for many organizations, and some are still struggling to justify the investment.  

Organizations are treating data as an asset like anything with an economic value to a business. They must have an understandable purpose for their existence. And in order for the data to be productive, it should be targeted with investment, maintenance, and development.   

Many organizations often fail in communication, as finding the common vocabulary over data is a difficult task. Approaching data from the technology point of view restricts the organization from selling the benefits in the language that business stakeholders can often relate to. Also, it is common for organizations to have a business problem that can only be solved with data. However, they may lack the required expertise or data culture required to build a bridge between business context, data, technologies, and people. They are also taking concrete steps to enhance data literacy within the organization, thus enabling data to move faster and closer to the end user. Many are taking responsibility for ownership of data as well as data development.  

Read more: ESG Data: How is it Defining the Future of Sustainable Operations

Real Purpose of Data  

Extracting Value from Data  

Today, data is no longer perceived as a pure technological initiative but rather an integral part of a business strategy.   

The big question is whether organizations are ensuring that they are getting value from their accumulated data. There is a need for them to change the way they function with data. One of the most significant links that tighten the cooperation between IT and businesspeople is data. And organizations need to find a common understanding that data is a critical part of business and not just an initiative.    

And to continue the defined path, organizations need to establish a framework for the separation of useful information from the accumulated data bank, verification of the accuracy of data, and its correct and secure transfer. But this can only be achieved when people, along with cross-functional processes and systems within the organization, produce data in the first place and also prevent it from flowing. It is equally critical for organizations to make people data literate with data expertise at different levels of the organization. And most importantly, they need a purpose for the accumulated data, as the data itself needs to fit the purpose.  

Read more: Top Data Analytics Certification Programs to Explore in 2023  

Data Growth

The Way Forward  

Data is still the talk of the town as there is so much more to be developed when considering the projected value growth. It helps in providing data with a purpose. Statista Research Department study stated that the total amount of data produced, captured, replicated, and consumed globally is forecast to increase to more than 180 zettabytes in 2025. But navigating the way to the correct data source is often challenging. And evaluating its accuracy can be a mission impossible for the user.   

To drive the change, organizations need to cooperate, define a data purpose, and implement tools and processes. They should treat data as an asset that holds the economic value for a business. It must have a defined and understandable purpose for its existence for it to be productive. The data should be aligned and targeted with investment, maintenance, and development.   

It is time for organizations to give data a purpose. And to effectively incorporate the change, IT and business professionals need to cooperate and define a data purpose, along with the tools and processes.  

With a presence in New York, San Francisco, Austin, Seattle, Toronto, London, Zurich, Pune, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, SG Analytics, a pioneer in Research and Analytics, offers tailor-made services to enterprises worldwide.         

A leader in Data Analytics, SG Analytics focuses on leveraging data management and analytics and data science to help businesses discover new insights and build strategies for business growth. Contact us today if you are looking to make critical data-driven decisions to prompt accelerated growth and breakthrough performance.          


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