The research has been commissioned by the Evaluation Centre (www.evaluationcentre.com). While 55% of respondents initially implemented data warehousing as a single project, currently only 19% expect to do so now and just 3% in future.
In contrast, the majority (60%) indicate they plan to introduce enterprise-wide data warehouses which will support a much wider range of departments and business processes. Most (87%) are aiming to improve management information flows by doing so, and three-quarters (78%) of the sample say they have achieved this. Half
(55%) also report improvements in data quality, but in other respects results have proved patchy.
Only around one third or a quarter of respondents have achieved the benefits they sought in areas such as increased customer awareness (36%), increased sales (32%), cost cutting (28%) and identifying new products or trends (26%). Cost cutting was a particular disappointment, with 28% saying they did not do as well as expected.
Moreover, only one in five (20%) of respondents claim to have achieved a
‘single view’ of customer and company performance, while the majority (45%) admit they are nowhere near hitting this goal.
Part of the problem seems to be the dramatic increases in data volumes many companies have recorded in recent years. Most (37%) estimate data volumes have gone up by 10-50%. However, 5% of the sample report a 100% increase in
amounts of data and 10% say there has been a 200% rise.
This presents a challenge for companies trying to sift through all the data
to spot significant trends or changes. A third (36%) are using a variety of BI tools to make information more targeted to specific users or job functions, and another third (33%) have plans to do so in future. Despite the lack of progress in achieving some key benefits, the majority (47%) of the sample agree that the implementation of data warehousing and BI has resulted in significant changes to their business. Two-thirds (64%) believe such applications are now ‘business critical’, and in recognition of this over half of companies polled (57%) have a business continuity plan specifically for their data warehouse application. – ENDS – Note for editors: About PMP Research PMP Research, founded in 1990, is the leading European independent analyst firm and part of PMP Group Services. The firm provides bespoke research, analysis and consultancy on a UK, European or global basis, typically within the IT, telecoms and professional services markets.
