Despite the one year anniversary of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) this month, UK businesses remain sorely missed to harness the full potential of their data. In today's digital world, every transaction is recorded to provide companies with an infinite amount of business intelligence, which can be used to understand everything from customer preferences to buying trends to industry challenges. Yet 63% of UK companies admit that more than half of their data is "dark"; they don't know they exist or know how to find, prepare, analyze or use them. In addition to the obvious challenges of GDPR, these companies are sacrificing a significant competitive advantage as industries invest more in data-driven operational results. So how can companies unlock their untapped dark data to improve their performance?
transform your business
Splunk's recent report on the state of dark data highlights the importance of gaining data skills in a company – 70% of UK business leaders believe this will be a critical part of future jobs. As we move more and more into data, companies must begin to understand what skills are relevant to the future of their organization and adapt their recruiting strategies to get the most out of their data assets. There is certainly a need for a more informed workforce. To unleash the full potential of data, it is essential to invest in new talent and training. When recruiting staff, companies need to ensure that their data skills are part of their daily responsibilities and that candidates have the skills and abilities to meet these requirements. However, companies must also ensure that existing workers have the opportunity to develop their own data skills. Today, with dedicated training programs in place, employees will have the confidence and wealth of skills they need to start using data in their daily roles. There is a near universal consensus that data insights will be an integral part of the future success of companies. In fact, 76% of global business and IT leaders agree that "the organization with the most data will win." In anticipation of this, the transformation of recruitment and training strategies must begin now.
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Build a data culture.
As important as data skills are, they are of little value if company officials don't make data strategy a top priority. 21% of companies cite a lack of interest from leaders as the main reason for the fight to recover invisible data, highlighting how leaders are an integral part of the data revolution of the future. To carry out advocacy and promotion of a data culture, leaders must be aware of the value of data and the information it can provide. Executives often understand the value of data, but leave management and analysis to employees, which means they have little influence over how it is maximized to drive business profits. To solve this problem, business leaders must be responsible for data management strategies. Once the data culture is developed, it will have more power to reap the benefits and improve business operations. Data, like money, is an asset, and a business will make the most of it and make the most of it.
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