Major roadblocks include a limited ability to mine or interpret the data, competing corporate priorities and the lack of a clearly articulated data strategy. You ve got an asset that s increasing in value but on the other side of the coin people are not able to really realize the value from that asset yet they ve got other competing priorities their ability to get in and interpret the information ? kind of creating a gap, said Bob Zukis, a partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory practice. So it s becoming more difficult to make sense out of the data while, at the same time, the value of the data is increasing. So there s a huge opportunity for value creation in there for the firms that do it as well. Elusive Value Seventy-one percent of senior executives describe the data in their company s information systems as potentially very valuable, including 16% who say these data may be among their business most valuable assets. Moreover, 68% expect these data will become even more valuable as a source of competitive advantage over the next 12 to18 months. This is because firms are just now starting to get a handle on the mountains of data their IT systems are generating. Service-orientated architectures and improved analytics tools are beginning the long process of breaking down information silos allowing the data within to be analyzed. If you look at this decade as the decade of data ? firms are only now, in the last half decade or so, they ve only now had good data- to work with ? and they re starting to realize they ve got to do a much better job to convert that data to information and convert that information into knowledge, said Zukis. But, only 43% of respondents said their company has been very effective in converting its data into usable knowledge. In fact, two-thirds cite a whopping five or more problem areas in their organization s ability to effectively utilize its data the most-significant being the ability to ?mine? or interpret it 84%-. Other common limitations include data consistency, mapping capability, accessibility, and timeliness. Surveyed executives report that if their company s data were to be treated as a key corporate asset, several benefits would be realized over the next 12-to-18 months, including reduced costs 75%-, increased workforce efficiency 68%-, more-effective compliance 67%-, and revenue enhancements 66%-. There s untapped value in these mountains of information, said Zukis. But an overwhelming 74% of executives cite competing corporate priorities as a barrier to realizing significant value from data management over the near term. Technology issues and lack of ability to process or mine the data are also noted by approximately one-third. Lacking Strategy Less than half 48%- say data management will be one of their company s Top 5 priorities for the coming 12-to-18 months, while another 37% place it in their second tier of priorities. Only 13% said data management isn t among their company s Top 10 priorities, but is acknowledged as important two percent did not report. Only 60% of surveyed executives report their company has a clearly articulated data strategy, including nearly 80% of those where data management is seen as a Top 5 corporate priority. Source: www.CIOupdate.coma>