In today's fast-paced digital landscape, the ability to harness and leverage data effectively is a key differentiator for organisations striving to achieve operational excellence and innovative growth. Yet, many organisations find themselves grappling with a fundamental challenge: vast amounts of data remain untapped, scattered across systems, and plagued by inconsistencies. AI initiatives falter, decision-making slows, and competitors who have mastered their data environments surge ahead.

This isn't a hypothetical situation. New research confirms this reality for many organisations today. According to this new survey conducted by GigaOm and sponsored by SAP, while most recognise the strategic value of data, they struggle to wield it effectively. The numbers tell a sobering story about the "cost of data neglect."

These challenges prevent organisations from realising their full potential, leaving them drowning in data, while only a fraction is accessible for trusted AI and informed decision-making. The lack of agility, hindered by slow processes and fragmented data, poses a significant barrier to acting on data at the pace required today.

The data maturity divide

In contrast, organisations that have invested in data maturity are telling a different story. As they invest in processes and technologies to leverage data strategically and innovatively, they are unlocking business value, moving faster, and delivering better customer experiences. The GigaOm survey highlights striking differences:

The survey emphasises that the difference isn't just about technology; it's about mindset, commitment, and the willingness to put data at the heart of business strategy. Most mature organisations demonstrate significantly higher business effectiveness and AI adoption by prioritising agility and laying solid data foundations that allow them to focus on business outcomes rather than getting bogged down by infrastructure issues. Several elements are essential:

• Cultivate leadership buy-in
  Encourage executives and leaders to advocate and model data-driven practices, setting the tone for the organisation.
• Prioritise data literacy
  Implement training programmes that empower employees with the skills needed to interpret and act on data insights.
• Establish governance frameworks
  Develop clear protocols for data management, ensuring data integrity and accessibility whilst maintaining compliance.

Bridging the data maturity gap

Technology is also key to bridging the data maturity divide and overcoming core data challenges. Organisations can implement a data platform that allows them to focus on business outcomes instead of infrastructure issues. Key capabilities of such a data platform include:

• Unify and govern all your data
  Connect and govern all your data with zero copies, eliminating fragmentation, complex management across clouds, and costly replication.
• Provide trusted, curated data
  Access fully managed data products, enabling trusted, high-quality data ready for AI, analytics, and insights
• Empower business users with context
  Preserve business context with a semantic layer and a knowledge graph for self-service data access in business terms.
• Foster reliable AI and intelligent applications
  Ground trustworthy AI in business data and leverage intelligent applications for 360° insights unified with planning, and recommendations.
• Accelerate automation and data engineering
  Automate manual processes with end-to-end data engineering and sharing capabilities, freeing analysts for high-value work.
• Modernise your landscape
  Provide an economical cloud path for on-premises customers, maximising existing data assets with new capabilities.

The way forward is clear

Data maturity is the cornerstone of a thriving business strategy. Organisations that embrace this ideology not only drive operational improvements but also unlock innovation potential, creating sustainable competitive advantages.