New research conducted by HFS Research in conjunction with Syniti, a global leader in enterprise data management, showcases strength of data governance and management of organisations in Asia Pacific, which exceeds its global counterparts.
Overall, the study reveals that while data is a clear focus are for C-level executives, there are still organisational disconnects in terms of execution—survey respondents still struggle with usable data.
The study, Perception Isn’t Always Reality: The Case for More Effective Data Management, surveyed more than 300 senior level executives at mid-to-large size enterprises across the globe.
The report provides valuable insight into key data trends across the globe, and how Asia Pacific fares globally when it comes to data. Key findings include:
More chief executive officers are setting the organisation’s data objectives, in comparison to chief digital or data officers. For majority of the companies in Asia Pacific, the chief executive officer is setting the data objectives (58%), but the chief digital and data officers are owning them (60%).
The chief executive officer sets the data objectives for 46% of companies and owns the data objectives for 35% of the companies. The chief data and digital officers play a smaller role in the overall management of data objectives.
Most organisations have a centralised, company-wide data management strategy, with 70% of respondents having fully implemented data management and 90% have a centralised company-wide data management strategy.
Globally, 73% of companies have implemented a centralised company-wide data management strategy.
Cross-functional, centralised governance is accelerating, with 60% of respondents having a governance office or team that supports cross-functional data governance, and 46% have a proactive governance model.
The report also found that 44% of companies globally have a governance office or team that supports cross-functional data governance, while 19% of companies are still in the process of defining their governance framework.
Usable data remains a challenge, with 58% of respondents said that up to 50% of their data was bad or not consumable. And while 80% of respondents said they trust their data, the same group said only 60% of the data is actually usable.
The findings of the report reveal that Asia Pacific is leading the charge when it comes to overall data management and governance, which are more centralised in comparison to global counterparts. This may be a function of the chief executive officer setting the data objectives and more involvement by the chief digital or data officers.
At the same time, however, challenges prevail—in particular, data quality and usable data. In Asia Pacific, one of the reasons cited for bad data includes inconsistent taxonomy in different operations. Globally, respondents cited a lack of governance and monitoring as the main factors to blame for bad data.
The good news is that nearly all respondents realise the value of data quality in driving business outcomes. Overall, 95% of executives believe that their companies would be more competitive, more innovative, and able to make faster decisions if their data quality were two times better—and data management is crucial to getting to this point. We can therefore expect a greater focus on more effective data management to enable success.
“Rapid digitalisation has created a proliferation of data, and businesses still struggle to connect their data management to business outcomes," says Gary Chua, Managing Director, Asia Pacific & Japan.
"The good thing is that the C-suite is responding to calls to implement clear governance and data strategies. Organisations in Asia Pacific are model examples, with stronger data governance and overall management globally. At Syniti, we are committed to helping companies realise the most value and maximise the opportunities of their greatest resource: data.”