Courtesy of Tech Journal

Fewer than 20 percent of businesses have successfully leveraged their data to obtain a single view of their customers. The findings are part of a study designed and conducted by Lodestar Research, a Princeton, NJ-based research and strategy consultancy and released by Dataflux.

The research is a result of 551 survey respondents (40 percent of whom are C-level executives). The full research brief can be downloaded here.

"For years, businesses have managed data in separate silos, yet have yearned for a single view of their customers. This survey clearly reflects the gap between vision and execution - and that businesses are not capitalizing on the full value of their corporate data assets"

Key Findings

While organizations understand the business value of obtaining a single view of their customers, few companies have actually achieved this feat. According to the survey respondents, only 17 percent have achieved a single view of their customer base.

However, almost half (48 percent) are either in the process of - or have plans to - implement a system to deliver a single view of the customer in the next 18 months.

The survey also highlighted a gap in the implementation of data management initiatives. While there has been significant adoption of data quality (59 percent) and data integration (55 percent) projects over the past 18 months, master data management (MDM) initiatives lag behind at 31 percent.

There will most certainly be significant growth in MDM implementations as industry analysts estimated the MDM market to be $1 billion in 2009¹, and predict a market size of $1.9 billion in 2012 and $3.2 billion by 2015².

As the value of data becomes more widely understood, an increasing number of businesses are moving toward implementing comprehensive data management strategies. Large businesses (greater than 10,000 employees) are leading the way with more than 65 percent stating they already have a well-defined data management strategy in place. The number falls to 49 percent when taking all respondents' answers into account. Only nine percent have yet to formalize a strategy.

Despite a majority of respondents indicating that they currently have, or will be implementing comprehensive data management strategies, executive ownership remains elusive.

Survey results

When asked to identify all the organizations that are accountable for managing and resolving data management problems, respondents stated:

• IT - 80 percent
• Operations - 33 percent
• Finance - 20 percent
• Executive management - 17 percent
   

"For years, businesses have managed data in separate silos, yet have yearned for a single view of their customers. This survey clearly reflects the gap between vision and execution - and that businesses are not capitalizing on the full value of their corporate data assets," said Tony Fisher, president and CEO of DataFlux.

"Master data management requires the executive to apply a comprehensive framework of policies - supported with technology - that will break down the data barriers that inhibit companies from fully leveraging their assets. And while MDM doesn't happen overnight, it is certainly something that needs to be part of a broader data strategy."

To learn how DataFlux can help your company achieve a single view of the customer through its data management technology and expertise, visit: http://marketing.dataflux.com/content/CustomerDataMgmt