Majority of UK IT decision makers fear exponential rise of data within their businesses

 Growing competition and uncertain economic conditions are increasing the demand for data-driven insights. New research reveals that the majority (58%) of IT decision makers (ITDMs) “fear” the exponential rise of data within their business, with concerns being raised regarding security, compliance, and operational risk.

The new data from Splunk, the cybersecurity and observability leader — which surveyed 500 UK ITDMs from companies of 250 employees or more — reveals that 97% have seen an increase in demand for data-driven insight within the last two years, with 29% of UK decision-makers also having seen their data volumes double within the last three years, and 11% seeing it triple or more.

The research revealed that while ITDMs are under pressure to ‘increase productivity’ (44%) and ‘increase the speed and quality of innovation’ (42%) through data-driven insights, 68% of those surveyed agree with the statement ‘Data Overload could make my business operationally less effective’.

Plus, 46% of UK ITDMs believe that, over the last three years, the unmanageability of their data has hindered their business’s ability to gain operational insight. And a further 45% believe this problem will continue over the next three years.

Board-level demand for data-driven insight across UK enterprises has primarily been driven by a desire to stay ahead in ‘a more competitive marketplace’ (60%); ‘economic uncertainty’ (58%); and ‘a more challenging operating environment’ (57%) with growth in cyberthreats, supply chain disruption, and increased regulation all playing a role.

It’s no surprise then that data driven insights (for operations and business performance) represent a ‘very high priority’ for 77% of UK ITDMs. But while data plays a vital role in informing decision makers, with more data comes more problems.

Speaking on the new data research Petra Jenner, GM & SVP EMEA at Splunk said: “Data is the backbone of today’s digital business models – yet many companies face a paradox: they want to be data-driven but struggle with overload and poor data quality. On average ITDMs estimate they can only derive insight from just under 57% of the data that they hold, and 86% believe ‘bad’ data poses a threat to their organisation.”

These perceived threats can come in many forms. For example, 64% of ITDMs are concerned about their company facing fines in the future due to non-compliance in regards to data they hold. This is especially important when it comes to the desire to gain a competitive edge, which 80% of ITDMs believe compliant data will help them achieve.

Similarly, 82% believe their ability to extract meaningful insights from data is critical to detecting and responding to cybersecurity threats, but 67% also believe the amount of data their company holds has posed an increasing security risk in itself over the last three years.

Petra also commented: “Digital resilience starts and ends with good data. Without visibility and control over their data, organisations risk non-compliance, security gaps, and could fall behind the competition

“Ultimately, a desire for more data-driven insights doesn’t come without its costs. As businesses onboard more and more insights, only those who treat data governance, quality, and compliance as strategic imperatives will come out on top. Only they will have the clarity and confidence to innovate with confidence and gain a critical edge everyone wants.”