Most companies do not trust their own data

There is a large gap between the IT management and the data specialists when it comes to the data of their own organisation. This is the conclusion of a study by Talend among 763 data professionals with different levels of responsibility.

According to the study, only 31 percent of data specialists – including data analysts, data scientists and data quality managers – are very confident that they are able to deliver reliable data quickly within their organization. At 46 percent, senior IT management has much more confidence in the competence of their organization.

When it comes to regulatory compliance, which is one of the most important criteria for measuring trust, 52 percent of respondents at management level said they were very positive. Only 39 per cent of executive data employees said they were positive about being compliant with data regulations.

Also, only 38 percent of respondents think their organization excels in controlling data quality. 29 percent of data professionals are confident that the data within their company is always accurate and up-to-date.

Speed and integrity

However, trust is not the only significant gap that Talend identified in his research. Also in terms of speed, there are still some shortcomings.

Companies want to shorten the time to market and improve actions in real time. When combined with integrity, a company can provide intelligence and reliable data for everything they do. But only 11 percent say that their company scores excellent in terms of speed and integrity.

In addition, 34 percent of data professionals state that their organization is capable of successfully running a 360-degree real-time data integration process. The number of managers is much higher, with 46 processes.

Data is the most important asset

According to Ciaran Dynes, Senior VP of Products at Talend, trust is important. “We are in the age of the information economy, where data has become the most important asset for any organization. Data-driven strategies have become necessary for success in any sector.

Confidence in data is of the utmost importance, according to Dynes. Without reliable data, there is no confidence in business decisions. And then the trust of stakeholders and customers will quickly disappear.

Dynes argues that it is important to build bridges between IT and data staff, and those responsible for building and maintaining trust. Although the top in a company has the responsibility to build trust, there must be unity in culture and delivering reliable data requires the dedication of every data specialist within the organization.”