90% of firms believe that in order to remain competitive over the next three years, they need to increase investment in real-time data analytics solutions according to new research from streaming analytics company KX.
Of the nearly 600 UK and US data professionals and IT decision makers (working across multiple industry sectors) that were polled, nearly two-thirds (64%) believe having access to real-time data is critical to making smarter business decisions, while over three-quarters (78%) say real-time data and insights are creating a competitive advantage for their business.
76% of firms believe their experience managing increased data workloads due to Covid-19 will accelerate data innovation for their organization in future.
However, the research suggests that many businesses could be missing out on extracting the full value from their investments by not thinking fast enough when it comes to real-time decision making.
Under one third (31%) of firms are currently thinking at the second or sub-second level, with 69% believing that real-time means over a second. 45% believe real-time to mean anything upwards from an hour.
“While we’re seeing an increase in both the volume and complexity of data, we also know its value perishes over time. The findings show that many firms could benefit by reducing their data-driven decision-making window,” said Kathy Schneider, CMO for KX.
50% of all firms in the study said that access to the technology needed to effectively capture data was the main barrier to smarter decision-making. However, this was only just ahead (49%) of having the right people or skill sets to manage data analytics.
During 2020 nearly all businesses (97%) saw an increase in the volume, variety and velocity of data across their business.