NEWS
AND Digital reveals gap in data skills is stunting growth in London businesses
AND Digital has launched the London findings of its Fuelling
Growth in an Age of Data report – revealing access to the right data skills and an unsophisticated approach to using data is holding back London businesses ’ ability to grow using data .
While the government ’ s latest plans to help businesses across the country ‘ level-up ’ identifies London as a shining example of a city driving tech innovation , almost a third ( 30 %) of decision-makers in London identified that a lack of knowledge and understanding among the C-suite is holding their business back from making more use of data to fuel growth .
Almost three-quarters ( 70 %) of respondents admit that access to the right experts is stunting their ability to truly capitalise on data for growth . Nearly a quarter ( 22 %) highlight that a lack of in-house data skills and time to implement the right technology ( 24 %) is also holding businesses ’ data aspirations back .
Signalling the importance of plugging this data skills gap , the report also found that 82 % of the city ’ s decision-makers believe putting data at the heart of business strategy and plans have become even more important in the last 18 months , with 96 % saying that a more sophisticated approach to using data would generate more growth .
Ongoing supply chain disruption has a critical impact on the ability to drive profitability
recent study , conducted by Forrester Consulting – on behalf
A of intelligent pricing platform , Flintfox International – reveals that retail , manufacturing and consumer goods companies are facing fundamental challenges in managing their profit margins , due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19 , inflation and supply chain issues . with 60 % of businesses claiming that poor data quality and capture is hampering the ability to keep on top of market fluctuations and remain competitive .
The majority of businesses ( 90 %) report that COVID-19 is having a critical impact on the ability to manage pricing across their product range , with 39 % stating they are unable to keep up with the scale of real-time price fluctuations occurring in the market . This is having a significant knock-on effect ; with businesses losing on average US $ 1 million a year in lost profitability due to their inability to respond quickly enough to market forces .
The study of over 900 business leaders has revealed that existing business models are preventing them from being able to manage the pace of change , with 41 % still relying on manual processes to manage price fluctuations . Over half ( 53 %) state that the pandemic has forced them to need better visibility into business performance on profitability and margins to respond accordingly .
2022 will see business model transformation pushed up the board agenda as global change becomes increasingly unpredictable ,
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