How important does management consulting giant BCG believe data will prove to today’s companies? Data is “akin to oxygen in most industries, and companies know they need to build core capabilities in order to capitalize on it,” the firm writes in this November 17 report. With a corporate asset and function that vital, how do these companies feel they are handling their data challenges?
Seven key data capabilities
BCG went to the source and asked 1,100 companies directly to rate their performance on seven key data capabilities. In thus third Data Capability Maturity Assessment (DACAMA) survey, BCG reports “progress is accelerating” with an overall improvement of 15 percent over their last survey in 2018. And this improvement represents a multi-year trend. That 2018 survey, in turn, reflected an eight percent improvement over the inaugural survey in 2015.
Progress is accelerating
In this 2021 survey, the biggest gains in data collection and utilization “were in foundational capabilities: data governance, data platform, ecosystem and partnerships, and leadership, change, and enablement,” BCG reports.
Competition driven
As BCG found previously in the 2018 survey, the industry sectors showing the fastest adoption and implementation of data are the industries in which data utilization’s represents a key factor in competition for industry market share and leadership.
Automotive is lagging
Four such industries fall in this category: technology, telecom, financial institutions, and consumer packaged goods and manufacturers. Yet, according to this survey, the automotive industry is one prominent industry with limited progress in leveraging data’s value. Despite the growing number of so-called “smart cars” that use and rely on data, BCG concludes in this 2021 survey that automobile manufacturers “do not have the capabilities to capitalize on the emerging data opportunities,” which sets apart from broad economy-wide improvements in data’s use.
