New Survey from INFORMS Reveals Majority of Organizations Do Not Have a Plan in Place to Assess the Maturity of Their Analytics Practices

More than 230 Business, Government and Academic Representatives Say Assessing Analytics Maturity is Critical for Improving ROI and Setting Their Organizations Apart

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, November 11, 2014–According to a new INFORMS^®  survey of 230 business, government and academic representatives released today, the concept of “analytics maturity” is important or very important to their businesses (65 percent).  Yet, 82 percent of those same respondents admitted they do not have a plan, model, or any other mechanism in place for measuring the efficacy or maturity of their analytics best practices over time.  

Some 47 percent of those surveyed attributed the lack of analytics maturity modeling to the fact they don’t believe it will help their businesses thrive, while 21 percent said they cannot afford an analytics maturity model solution.

“The ability to fully assess the maturity level of an organization’s analytics best practices is paramount to their efficacy,” said Aaron Burciaga, senior manager, operations analytics at Accenture. “With more access to information than ever before, organizations must have a strategy in place for how they leverage data and analytics, and assess the maturity of their programs to empower decision making and drive organizational strategy.”

Other survey findings are:

• For those organizations polled that do have an analytics maturity model or process in place, 72 percent are only assessing their analytics practices by certain departments, but are not looking at the maturity of their analytics holistically.
• 52 percent of those same respondents said they have not made any changes to their approach or best practices based on the input they have received from the analytics maturity model they are using.
• Finally, 80 percent say the model they are currently using does not allow them to benchmark their analytics maturity against their peers. 

In another announcement made today, INFORMS announced the launch of a unique new Analytics Maturity Model that is designed to help organizations of all sizes scrutinize the way they are using analytics across the business, and determine how they can improve their best practices over time. Whether an organization is in its initial stages of using analytics to improve business processes or is at a more advanced level, the INFORMS Analytics Maturity Model approach helps assess strengths and weaknesses across an organization in three important areas of analytics: the organization itself, its analytics capabilities and its data and infrastructure.   

Survey Methodology

The INFORMS 2014 Analytics Maturity Survey was conducted online by Survey Monkey on behalf of INFORMS.  The poll, which gathered feedback from over 230 analytics and line of business professionals globally, was conducted over a two week period in October 2014.

About INFORMS

INFORMS is the leading international association for professionals in analytics and operations research (O.R.). INFORMS advances research, and develops and promotes best practices in analytics and O.R. through collaboration, knowledge sharing, and professional development. INFORMS helps business, government, and other organization professionals make better decisions to drive value to their organizations and society. Our certification program (CAP^®), highly cited publications, educational meetings and conferences, continuing education, industry and process focused networking communities, competitions, and recognition provide professionals with the knowledge and connections they need to achieve ever greater value for their organizations. Further information about INFORMS can be found online at www.informs.org or @informs.

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