Canada has been slower in its adoption and application of analytics compared to its global counterparts, according to Deloitte Analytics’ Global Analytics Advantage survey.
The results are based on more than 100 online surveys and 35 in-depth interviews with senior executives at companies in Canada, the U.S., the United Kingdom and China.
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Though Canada has lagged, “there’s reason to be optimistic as there is a strong appetite to embrace analytics, particularly in Canada’s booming energy and resources industries,” says Jane Griffin, managing director, Deloitte Analytics.
Unlike the U.S., where the natural early adopters tended to be Internet-based companies, Canada’s early adopters were banks, which applied analytics to keep and expand their networks; and the public sector, which applied analytics to issues of compliance and efficiency.
Key findings include:
- Marketing and customers – More than half of respondents (55%) recognize the influence analytics is having on their businesses as their marketing and sales groups invest in analytics, second only to finance operations.
- Structure is a challenge – The survey found that a number of c-suite executives are in charge of analytics within an organization. 20% of respondents said there was no single executive responsible for data and analytics. If there was an individual identified, it was most often the business unit leader (23%) or Chief Financial Officer (18%). This is leading to structural and communications challenges. Coordination and alignment is needed to realize the true value of analytics and internal discussions should take place to determine who owns the role.
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- Key barriers to overcome – 42% of the organizations surveyed believe their employees do not have the required analytics skills. Organizations will be slow to fully capitalize on the potential of analytics unless they are able to overcome several key barriers. Data management and access to talent are the most problematic. In addition, 31% of organizations believe the data they have is usable, but available only in functional, or process silos.
- Analytics will become more relevant – 96% of respondents feel that analytics will become more important to their organizations in the next three years. At the same time nearly half (49%) of respondents assert that the greatest benefit of using analytics is that it is a key factor in better decision-making capabilities.
Griffin adds, “Organizations are making great strides in incorporating more analytics practices into their operations, but to get the most out of the data, organizations need to have the right talent to analyze the data. Fortunately, Canada has a large pool of talent with advanced degrees that are relevant in the analytics context and we are uniquely positioned to meet the upcoming demand. However, Canadian business leaders will need to continue to work with post-secondary institutions to graduate people with the required analytics skills.”
Download the full report here.