Data management: High demands, but no trust in the data

For several years now, Experian, a global provider of information services, has been examining the status quo of "Global Data Management". The common thread in the 2018 to 2020 reports can be summed up like this: Companies consistently set high standards for the use of their data, but the reality cannot keep pace.

The ability to make strategic decisions, reduce risk, and bring innovative products to market requires data that can be trusted. But are they?

There is no question that companies have recognized the importance of data to their business development. In 2018, the Experian report said companies see their data as the primary driver of business opportunities. In 2020, 98 percent of companies believe high-quality data is either extremely important or important to achieving their business goals, and 85 percent of companies consider data to be one of their most valuable assets.

High on the list of priorities is improving the customer experience, which was cited by 60 percent of respondents. Companies have vast amounts of data about their customers. But does it contribute to a deeper understanding of their needs and motivations?

All too often, this is not the case. Data exists unchanged in diverse silos, and data duplications make it nearly impossible to have a single source of truth. For a few years now, Experian has observed an increased focus on initiatives that aim for a single customer view.

The volume of information and the number of data sources each posed key challenges for 36 percent of companies, Experian notes. Sixty-nine percent of respondents believe inaccurate data undermines their ability to deliver a superior customer experience.

There's no question that bad data is bad for business. This is true not only when it comes to making informed decisions, improving the customer experience, or accelerating innovation, but also when it comes to meeting compliance guidelines and legal obligations.

So it's not good news when, on average, about 30 percent of their customer and prospect data is inaccurate, according to companies surveyed by Experian from 2017 to 2020. The level of bad data had become so pervasive that in 2019 and 2020, only half of companies considered the current state of their CRM or ERP data to be clean and therefore able to fully leverage it.

Companies lack confidence in their own data assets. In fact, one-third of the companies surveyed said one of the biggest challenges in using data for business initiatives is a lack of trust in the data.

Tracking down the causes of inaccurate data reveals a clear "winner": half of companies in 2018 and 2019 said human error was the biggest cause of data inaccuracy.

Despite the increasing requirements to be able to generate information from data and reliable knowledge for business decisions from information, Experian has not observed any improvement in the maturity of data management in companies in recent years.

To reverse the high levels of inaccurate information and build trust in data, it is critical for organizations to have the right people, processes and technology in place to manage data and ensure it is sound, complete, valid, accurate and reliable, he said. There is nothing to add to this claim by Experian.