Two-Thirds of Organisations Failing to Deliver Business Impact from Analytics, research reveals

business analytics
  • ThoughtSpot’s ‘Modern Analyst’ report finds that enterprises are not fully tapping into the value of their analysts
  • 44% of respondents cite the need to democratise analytics as the top change necessary to become more productive, efficient, and strategic in their roles
  • Data infrastructure (49%) and data literacy (39%) are listed as the top challenges for organisations, especially as they move to democratise analytics 

New research from ThoughtSpot and TDWI has revealed that two-thirds of organisations are failing to deliver business impact from their analytics, with analysts spending a disproportionate amount of time compiling reports and dashboards rather than focusing on the insights emerging from such data reports for strategic initiatives.

The report, “The Modern Analyst: Meeting Tomorrow’s Challenge”, surveys 430 data and analytics professionals from six industry sectors in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. It found that the majority (66%) of respondents say less than 80% of their reports provide value for the organisation they work for. This is despite the fact that over one-third (35%) want to spend more time understanding strategic business initiatives to deliver more impactful business outcomes and value for their organisations. 

44% of respondents cite the need to democratise analytics as the top change necessary to become more productive, efficient, and strategic in their roles. Data infrastructure (49%) and data literacy (39%) are listed as the top challenges for organisations as they move to do so. To that end, over one-third of organisations would like to see technologies and tools automate the process to surface insights (38%) and build data pipelines.

The research coincides with the launch of ThoughtSpot Cloud, the first fully-managed SaaS offering providing business users with the flexibility to glean instant insights from data in the cloud.

Enterprise analytics has been slow in moving to the cloud, held back by limited network bandwidth, data gravity remaining on premises, fragmentation of data in multiple clouds, and security concerns. Technological improvements, particularly the introduction of cloud data warehouses, have addressed many concerns. Enterprises require a solution that works with cloud data warehouses to enable all employees, from frontline to C-suite, with insights at the most granular level from their entire cloud.

ThoughtSpot Cloud connects to popular cloud data warehouses like Amazon Redshift, Snowflake, Google BigQuery, and Microsoft Azure Synapse, allowing business users to unearth insights from all their cloud data with search and AI, and helping them to maximise ROI from investments.

Sudheesh Nair, CEO of ThoughtSpot said: “Empowering every employee with data has become the lifeblood of modern businesses. This has become especially clear for organisations this year as they face the challenges created by COVID-19.” 

“ThoughtSpot Cloud is purpose-built to address our customers’ need to unleash the full power of their cloud data, and drive true digital transformation more quickly than ever before. Existing legacy solutions, which are riddled with lag-times and infrastructure restrictions, are simply not up to the task. Our customers rely on us to help them to build a more fact-driven world through the use of data, and with ThoughtSpot Cloud, we’ve taken a major step forward in advancing this important mission.”

“Organisations that utilise sophisticated analytics and data-driven decision-making are more likely to realise benefits such as top-line growth, higher customer satisfaction, and more effective and efficient operations than those that do not,” said Dr. Fern Halper, Vice President & Senior Research Director, TDWI Research. “As organisations are facing pressures to operate in today’s digital economy, they need to modernise their analytics to meet current and future requirements. Looking forward, analysts have a unique role to play in terms of providing strategic insights to their organisations and as coaches and mentors to others.”

For the full report and more information on ThoughtSpot Cloud, visit www.thoughtspot.com.


Bekki Barnes

With 5 years’ experience in marketing, Bekki has knowledge in both B2B and B2C marketing. Bekki has worked with a wide range of brands, including local and national organisations.

Data-Sharing Done Right: Finding the Best Business Approach

Bart Koek • 20th November 2024

To ensure data is not only available, but also accessible to those that need it, businesses recognise that it is vital to focus on collecting, sorting and governing all the data in their organisation. But what happens when data also needs to be accessed and shared across the business? That is where organisations discover a...

Nova: The Ultimate AI-Powered Martech Solution for Boosting Sales, Marketing...

Erin Lanahan • 19th November 2024

Discover how Nova, the AI-powered engine behind Launched, revolutionises Martech by automating sales and marketing tasks, enhancing personalisation, and delivering unmatched ROI. With advanced intent data integration, revenue attribution, and real-time insights, Nova empowers businesses to scale, streamline operations, and outperform competitors like 6Sense and 11x.ai. Experience the future of Martech with Nova’s transformative AI...

How E-commerce Marketers Can Win Black Friday

Sue Azari • 11th November 2024

As new global eCommerce players expand their influence across both European and US markets, traditional brands are navigating a rapidly shifting landscape. These fast-growing Asian platforms have gained traction by offering ultra-low prices, rapid product turnarounds, heavy investment in paid user acquisition, and leveraging viral social media trends to create demand almost in real-time. This...

Why microgrids are big news

Craig Tropea • 31st October 2024

As the world continues its march towards a greener future, businesses, communities, and individuals alike are all increasingly turning towards renewable energy sources to power their operations. What is most interesting, though, is how many of them are taking the pro-active position of researching, selecting, and implementing their preferred solutions without the assistance of traditional...

Is automation the silver bullet for customer retention?

Carter Busse • 22nd October 2024

CX innovation has accelerated rapidly since 2020, as business and consumer expectations evolved dramatically during the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, finding the best way to engage and respond to customers has become a top business priority and a key business challenge. Not only do customers expect the highest standard, but companies are prioritising superb CX to...

Automated Testing Tools and Their Impact on Software Quality

Natalia Yanchii • 09th October 2024

Test automation refers to using specialized software tools and frameworks to automate the execution of test cases, thereby reducing the time and effort required for manual testing. This approach ensures that automation tests run quickly and consistently, allowing development teams to identify and resolve defects more effectively. Test automation provides greater accuracy by eliminating human...