San Ramon, Calif.- June 28, 2011 – To maintain and improve
their market competitiveness, small and midsized businesses are turning to
focused analytics that help them manage today’s vastly greater information
flows, operate more
efficiently and make better decisions, new benchmark research from Ventana
Research finds.
For these businesses the most important categories of
metrics are financial (identified by 64% of participants), cost (62%) and
operational (53%). However, the research indicates that despite viewing them as
valuable and important, small and midsize businesses are maturing only slowly
in their use of analytics. Fundamental barriers block the road to improvement
in metrics use, the research finds; topping the list are the absence of
resources, of a strong business case and of a budget and a low awareness of the
need to change. This lack of maturity is reflected in the finding that only 51 percent of these organizations can deliver metrics
and key performance indicators as quickly as within one week of the end of the
month. Additionally, 47 percent report that at least some of the data to which
they apply analytics is stale or outdated and more than half (52%) say the data
is only somewhat accurate.
The
research also shows that more than half of small and midsize organizations
(62%) use as their only tool to generate analytics desktop spreadsheets, which
are time-consuming, error-prone and unreliable. Midsize companies have an
increasing number of practical options for replacing spreadsheets, which would
likely improve their business performance. The Ventana Research Maturity Index analysis
finds that only 15 percent of all small and midsize businesses are functioning
at the highest Innovative level of maturity in their use of analytics.
This in-depth benchmark research on small to midsized business
analytics, the latest from the leading business technology research firm,
analyzed business and IT organizations around the world to assess the maturity
and direction of their efforts. Ventana Research undertook this research to
acquire real-world information about maturity, trends and best practices in how
small and midsized organizations use analytics and key indicators to optimize
their business and IT processes and organizations. It explores how they do this
now, how teams view the current processes and tools, plans they have to change
or improve them, and benefits they hope to gain by doing so.
The findings offer fresh research-based information on these
companies' attitudes toward business analytics. They confirm that business and
IT organizations use a variety of analytics, but the data indicates that small
and midsized businesses have not yet automated many of the underlying data
integration and analytics operations needed to generate metrics. The research also shows that
usability and flexible functionality are important criteria in these
organizations’ search for the right analytics, that failing to examine timely
availability, broad access and efficient handling can obstruct analytics use,
and that to improve the maturity of applications usage spreadsheets should be
replaced with more appropriate tools.
"The advent of business analytics is clearly a game-changing
opportunity for smaller organizations that want to be more efficient in their
business processes and more competitive," noted Robert Kugel, SVP of research
at Ventana Research. "Without a strong business analytics foundation they
simply won’t be able to understand where to optimize performance, let alone
plan to achieve the goals required for guiding an organization’s performance.
“This research found that the small and midsize organizations
that invest in business analytics are most likely to be innovative and achieve
increased operational efficiencies,” Kugel added. “This research provides new
insights to help advance the science of analytics and help guide a better
understanding of best and worst practices, and also to better inform technology
suppliers about what matters most to these organizations.”
To view the webinar, visit:
http://www.ventanaresearch.com/SMBWebinar/
Those interested in learning more about this benchmark
research can find additional information at http://www.ventanaresearch.com/SMBAnalytics/.
As a part of your registration you will receive insights and education from
Ventana Research on using technology effectively in business.
About Ventana Research
Ventana Research is the most authoritative and respected
benchmark business technology research and advisory services firm. We provide
insight and expert guidance on mainstream and disruptive technologies through a
unique set of research-based offerings including benchmark research and technology
evaluation assessments, education workshops and our research and advisory
services, Ventana OnDemand. Our unparalleled understanding of the role of
technology in optimizing business processes and performance and our best
practices guidance are rooted in our rigorous research-based benchmarking of
people, processes, information and technology across business and IT functions
in every industry. This benchmark research plus our market coverage and
in-depth knowledge of hundreds of technology providers means we can deliver
education and expertise to our clients to increase the value they derive from
technology investments while reducing time, cost and risk.
Ventana Research provides the most comprehensive analyst and
research coverage in the industry; business and IT professionals worldwide are
members of our community and benefit from Ventana Research’s insights, as do
highly regarded media and association partners around the globe. Our views and
analyses are distributed daily through blogs and social media channels including
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Business Week’s Business
Exchange.
To learn how Ventana Research advances the maturity of
organizations’ use of information and technology through benchmark research, education
and advisory services, visit www.ventanaresearch.com.
Media: Copies of benchmark research report and interviews
are available upon request.
Media Contact:
Mendeil Bailey
(925) 242-2412
marketing@ventanaresearch.com