Tableau Software has announced a new study developed in conjunction with YouGov, to explore how organisations in the Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) have used data during COVID pandemic. The survey noted that data-driven companies in India are more resilient and confident during the pandemic, compared to non-data-driven companies.

According to the data, 83% of data-driven companies in India have reported reaping critical business advantages during the pandemic. Along with that, the survey revealed that 62% of organisations believe that leveraging data can provide multiple and vast benefits to businesses, including more effective communication with stakeholders. Another 58% organisation noted making faster strategic business decisions with 56% witnessing increasing cross-team collaboration. Further, the data stated that 48% of organisations have managed to make their business more agile. 

Being data-driven is also allowing organisations to be more optimistic towards this turbulent time. The survey stated that around 76% of organisations are confident and looking forward to a promising future for their business.

While data-driven companies are reaping its benefits, the non-data-driven companies are facing massive challenges in grasping the importance of data. This demonstrates the prevailing disconnect of how businesses leveraging data and the potential for organisations to benefit from a more data-driven approach.

Anand Ekambaram, the Country Manager, Tableau India stated in their official release that data is emerging as a key differentiator in the uncertain environment of 2020. While Indian organisations are still weathering the pandemic, the survey highlighted the ‘data divide’ where organisations differ in their ability to leverage data as a strategic asset. 

Read an interview with Anand Ekambaram here.

According to Ekambaram, this gap will only be going to rise if businesses in India don’t act now to empower people with data and make their existing asset actionable. He believes, going into 2021, companies need to view data culture as a must-have as they navigate through the pandemic and seek outgrowth.

Additionally, the survey highlighted that 86% of data-driven Indian organisations are looking to boost their investment in data skills over the next six months. However, 26% of non-data driven organisations opted to either reduce or not invest in data skills at all, stated the survey.

Adding to this, Sarajit Jha, the Chief Business Transformation and Digital Solutions Office of Tata Steel stated to the media that, “What gets measured gets done and if I may add, what gets measured and reported gets improved.” The data and visualisation driven strategy enabled the company to create a single version of the truth in critical areas of the business like cash flow, inventory, delivery lead times as well as operations. This drove Tata Steel’s ability to stay close to customers, run the operations and simultaneously drive improvement across multiple fronts.

Some of the critical lessons learnt by the Indian organisations amid this pandemic are — 53% believes including data transparency is vital, whereas 52% expects a better data quality, followed by 47% that are looking to invest more in data skills.

Commenting on the importance of data skills, Lakshmi Narayana, Tableau User Group Ambassador said that, understanding data and integrating it into everything we do as a business is imperative as we now enter the data era. He believes, if every individual is given the empowerment and training to develop their data skills, it will allow the organisation to make decisions faster and stand out in a competitive landscape.

The survey further noted that India saw the highest percentage of companies of 43%, who will increase their spending on data skills training, above the APJ region average of 31%. Across APJ, only 62% of business leaders classify themselves as being data-driven, while close to one third, i.e. 34% believe their businesses are not. Singapore companies take the lead with the highest proportion of data-driven organisations with 67%, followed closely by India with 66%, while Japan lags in the region with just 51%.

Thus, the survey highlights an opportunity for more businesses to harness data to support business resilience and decision-making, now and in the post-pandemic world.
Read more about the survey here.