Indian organisations could boost revenues by 13.6% by harnessing data effectively: AWS study

Organisations in India that harness data ‘effectively’ or take advantage of data and analytics tools to improve their decision-making capabilities, can grow their annual business revenue by 13.6% on average, according to a new study, which added that for large organisations, this is equivalent to ₹7,451 million in additional annual revenue, according to a joint study by US-based technology major Amazon’s cloud arm, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and consulting firm Deloitte. 

However, the report found that despite the growing importance of data, 93% of organisations in India are still in the basic and beginner stages of data maturity, which is referred to as a measurement of how advanced a company's data analysis and other data driven strategies are.

The report titled: 'The Demystifying Data 2022' that surveyed 521 senior business decision-makers in Indian organisations noted that the country still faces challenge with regard to data maturity. The main barrier cited by organisations to using data and analytics was data quality (64%), data security and risk (60%), and the lack of a data and analytics strategy (59%), it said. 

The report also noted that more than half of organisations in India (55%) reported lack of access to skilled resources as a barrier to developing their data and analytics capabilities. However, almost two in five (38%) of surveyed organisations prefer to buy skills by hiring talent to grow their data and analytics capabilities. A further 29% of surveyed organisations are looking to upskill their current employees. 

“From our research, only 6% of organisations in India have invested in the necessary technology, talent, and processes needed to unlock the full potential of their data,” said Monojit Mazumdar, partner at Deloitte.  

However, data-driven companies have a very different story to say. The study said that nearly two-thirds (63%) of those company reportedly shared that effectively capturing and analysing data can lead to improved productivity, followed by increased sales and revenue (60%), and improved customer experiences (56%).  

“Data can be an invaluable source of growth for organisations in India. The key is to put data to use by analysing it effectively, and creating a data-driven culture,” said Puneet Chandok, President of Commercial Business, Amazon Web Services, India & South Asia. 

Surveyed organisations in the retail trade sector for example ranked the highest on the data maturity scale, with 78% of these organisations achieving Advanced or Master levels, followed by information, media, and telecommunications (68%), and finance and insurance (67%). Conversely, organisations in education and training have the lowest levels of data maturity, with less than 30% of surveyed organisations in that industry achieving Advanced or Master levels of data maturity, the study showed. 

Not just this Deloitte-AWS study, a recent study by IT consulting firm Capgemini published on January 24 also noted that firms that implement data-driven strategies are more successful in their change processes than those that don’t. For example, it claimed change success to increase by a whopping 27% due to a high level of data maturity in the organization, by 23% due to data-driven leadership, and by 26% as a result of a data-driven culture. “Organistations that base change management decisions on data also benefit from greater transparency, more opportunities for participation and a better sense of control among employees,” it said. 

Mazumdar noted that investing in cloud solutions will help businesses to accelerate their data maturity levels and achieve data driven insights. In fact, businesses that already use cloud are 94% more likely to have invested in artificial intelligence or machine learning capabilities compared with businesses who have not adopted cloud. “To effectively turn data into a business advantage, organisations should have a clear and practical roadmap for advancing on the data maturity ladder, invest in attracting and retaining talent, and leverage the right technology to reap the full benefits,” he said.