What do data-driven companies have in common? Research reveals five key trends
Recent IDC research, sponsored by Tableau, found that 83% of CEOs want a data-driven organization, but only 33% of executives are comfortable questioning business KPIs and metrics1, revealing disparities between what executives “want” and “have.”(1) Nearly all executives say they want their organization to be more data-driven, but discount cultural investments that help bring that change to reality.
As more organizations see and understand their data, and some grow data use at enviable rates, Tableau and IDC felt it was useful to explore behaviors, characteristics, and key trends that set data-leading companies—ones with a strong Data Culture—apart. We conducted a survey of over 1,100 business leaders across 10 countries in technical and non-technical roles, investigating the presence and depth of five trends that drive a successful Data Culture and help shift the position of organizations to become data-leading.
In our research, we found that investing in data-driven behaviors often translates into measurable, positive impact and business performance with:
The attributes of a leading Data Culture range from visible characteristics like training methods, tools available and used, and business processes to subtle, hard-to-quantify characteristics such as empathy, identity, and confidence in data skills. The five common trends among data-driven organizations are:
Companies and Tableau customers such as Swiss Life, Bank Mandiri, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), and JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPMC) have evolved their behaviors and mindsets around data use to establish some of these defining characteristics, becoming data-leading. Let’s take a closer look at each trend and some of their transformational stories.
This trend relates to the ability of individuals to analyze, interpret, and communicate with data, and then use it to argue a point or make smarter decisions—a set of competencies also known as data literacy. The IDC research revealed that enterprises become more data-driven when they prioritize data literacy by hiring data-literate people and upskilling employees.
Swiss Life, the 110-year-old insurance and asset management leader, experienced this firsthand. For years, the company struggled with expensive and complex data architecture—too many tools, data sources, and more. This caused extra work for IT and unreliable results. Something had to change. This led them to re-evaluate their approach to decision-making, starting with data skills. They developed cross-functional analytics training for hundreds of employees that built up their confidence and competence with using data. This investment in data skills led to a stronger, long-lasting Data Culture.
Critical to democratizing data literacy, governed access, trust, and accountability in analytics are foundational to a thriving Data Culture. Having both trust from leadership and transparent access to governed, accurate data, results in greater employee responsibility and accountability for the information used and needed.
Bank Mandiri, the largest financial institution in Indonesia, embedded data-driven decision making at all levels with trusted self-serve analytics. Previously, analytics requests took weeks to complete, were shared in a difficult-to-consume format, and depended on the Enterprise Data Management (EDM) Group to handle. These challenges were at odds with the bank’s commitment to provide the best, most effective customer solutions. This prompted them to increase efficiency of processes and launch a new data governance unit. “Good governance is substantial to a data-driven organization,” says Billie Setiawan, senior vice president of the Enterprise Data Management (EDM) group. “It’s not about providing everyone with access to all data, but ensuring that people can access the data which is relevant to their responsibilities. We call it a ‘need-to-know basis.
