Namics study: "Rookie or Pro? This is how professionally companies handle data".

Data Maturity in Germany and Switzerland: Data potential is not being exploited.

Press release

Companies expect a lot from data analysis: about half (51%) of the respondents hope to better understand customer behaviour through advanced analytics.
Most companies use data to identify problems (59%), but not to optimise their processes.
On average, the companies surveyed achieve a data maturity of 2.6 on a scale of 1 to 5.
The greatest need to catch up exists in the areas of data-driven processes and capabilities.
Traditional tools are still used for data analysis: 83 percent of the companies surveyed evaluate their data with Excel.

St.Gallen / Frankfurt, 03.06.2020 – The full-service digital agency Namics - A Merkle Company publishes the study "Rookie or Pro? Data Maturity in Germany and Switzerland". It examines how well companies handle data and to what extent they benefit from it. The result: A large proportion of those surveyed already collect at least simple customer data (58%) and product performance or sales data (57%). However, about two-thirds lack the sustainable integration of data analysis into business processes. As a result, they cannot fully exploit the value of the data.

As part of the study, Namics interviewed a total of 300 German and Swiss companies from various industries in the form of a standardized online questionnaire. In order to make the degree of maturity measurable, Namics developed a concept according to scientific standards: Namics Data Maturity Assessments (NDMA) help to determine and evaluate the maturity level of a company with regard to various dimensions. This results in a comprehensive maturity score, which can be classified on a scale of 1 to 5.

Lars Borgmann, study author and Principal Data Consultant at Namics – A Merkle Company:

"The average score of 2.6 shows that the companies surveyed still have room for improvement when it comes to handling data. At the same time, the study makes it clear that further development towards a data-driven organisation is definitely worthwhile: Data Maturity above all increases the efficiency of processes. This enables companies to set themselves apart from the competition and secure competitive advantages. My initial recommendation is to determine the status quo of data usage, identify other relevant usage scenarios and draw up a structured roadmap for the path to a data-driven organisation. In this way, companies can ensure that they use technology in a targeted manner".

Data maturity of companies – five key findings of the study:

Discrepancy between wishful thinking and reality: The companies surveyed have high hopes of data-driven applications, but very few actually benefit from the data.
Companies have recognized the value and potential of data: The respondents already collect and store a lot of data, only two percent collect no data at all. Above all, customer information and data on the performance of products and services are collected.
Store: Yes, analysis: No – unused potential in data processing: Companies rarely really evaluate their data. Data storage becomes an end in itself. The majority of respondents use data only to identify problems, but not to optimize their processes in a data-driven manner.
Data maturity is independent of country, industry and size: The degree of maturity of the companies surveyed does not depend on their number of employees, industry or country. Even industries that are considered particularly progressive, such as information technology, do not have a significant lead over others (average data maturity of 2.75).
Competitive advantages through data maturity: A high data maturity has a positive effect on various aspects. With its help, companies can work more efficiently, avoid mistakes, understand customers better, achieve their own goals better - and thus strengthen their competitiveness.

Rookies versus pros: room for improvement in sustainable data analysis and use

Namics identified two groups of respondents that are clearly distinct from each other: pros (37%) and rookies (63%). The latter companies collect data, but do not integrate it into their daily processes. The pros, on the other hand, include those companies that are already well positioned in terms of data-driven strategies, processes and technologies. The study shows that almost two-thirds of the companies surveyed have already recognised the added value of data, but have not yet anchored it sustainably in the company's internal processes and structures.