Inadequate data management costs Swiss companies one million Swiss francs annually

Companies want to be more competitive in the digital economy, but are already failing to manage their data effectively. They are losing productivity and missing important opportunities, according to the results of a new study by Veritas Technologies a leading provider of enterprise data protection and software-defined storage. By contrast, if employees can access data quickly and efficiently to gain more insight, they make better, more informed decisions. Veritas commissioned a survey of IT decision-makers and data managers from 15 countries. 100 people from Switzerland also took part. The results show that weaknesses in data management have a massive impact on the efficiency of employees, their productivity and ultimately the profitability of companies. On average, employees in Switzerland lose one hour per day searching for data. As a result, their efficiency drops by an average of 14 percent.

Costs reduced thanks to smart data management

According to the study, companies that have already implemented smart data management on a day-to-day basis have been able to reduce costs and increase productivity. As many as 43 percent of respondents said they achieved savings, and as many as 61 percent said their employees have been more productive since then. "The exponential growth of data presents many opportunities for companies - but only if they can analyze their data intelligently. Unfortunately, most companies waste time and money searching for useful and crucial information in their fragmented data silos," said Thomas W. Luchetta, Country Manager Switzerland & Austria at Veritas. "Companies that put the necessary effort into maintaining their most important digital asset - their data - will have an advantage over the competition because their employees will draw more knowledge from the data and make better decisions."

Missed opportunities and lost sales

Apart from decreasing productivity, poor data management can have even more far-reaching consequences. Most Swiss respondents (88 percent) believe they have already missed valuable opportunities due to ineffective data management. In fact, 31 percent admit that their company is not taking advantage of new revenue opportunities, and as many as two in five (41 percent) say that data management challenges have caused an increase in operating costs for their companies. The following finding is particularly alarming: companies are losing more than one million Swiss francs per year due to their data management challenges.

Longer term disadvantages

Companies that do not solve their data management problems also risk longer-term disadvantages. For example, respondents say their ability to make strategic decisions will be limited (37 percent), they will be less agile (33 percent) and they will not be able to compete successfully in the marketplace (23 percent). A full 30 percent of IT decision-makers fear that their data security will be more vulnerable to threats, and another 26 percent have already found that their customers will be more dissatisfied.

"The questions of where data is and whether it is even secure are on companies' minds every day. If they can't answer these questions clearly, they will face several consequences. An organization will be less agile, face higher security risk and lower productivity, and make decisions more slowly - from the lowest to the highest levels," Luchetta continued. "To succeed in the dynamic digital economy, employees must maintain complete visibility and control over all of their data assets. Strategic data management lays the groundwork so employees will recognize opportunities and risks and unlock the value of their data."

Source and further information: www.veritas.com