Of course, the sheer amount of data available isn’t the only problem.

Here are four key charts from the report, highlighting four further challenges for companies in measuring the value of data.

Securing executive sponsorship

While many view digital analytics as a vital part of a company’s digital transformation, there is somewhat of a discrepancy in securing support from the top down.

51% of company respondents say that they don’t have executive sponsorship.

As a result, this can have a marked impact on approach, with these companies 29 percentage points less likely to have a formal data strategy in place. 

Lack of ROI measurement

Without a direct correlation between investment in digital analytics and financial outcome, the value of data can never be defined.

Research found that 48% of companies are failing to measure that return on investment – a statistic which puts the aforementioned problem of securing sponsorship into context.

On the other hand, the below graph does show some encouraging signs, with over half of companies citing that they do measure ROI on analytics investments.  

Implementing a formal strategy

62% of companies do not have a formally documented data analytics strategy in place, which goes to show just how much room for improvement there still is.

Taking heed from those who do, a combined offline and online strategy could prove to be the most effective, with a merging of the customer journey providing the most insight.

When it comes to the reasons for a lack of formal strategy, money is a big factor, with companies that turn over less than £50m being 11% less likely to have one.

Bridging the skills gap

While ‘producing reports’ is one of the biggest skills in demand, research shows that this is being met internally.

On the other hand, there does appear to be a growing skills gap in more specific areas like business intelligence tools.

This appears to be a result of the growing focus on digital transformation, and in particular, the way that digital integration is becoming a business-wide objective.

As more training is needed to match the pace of technological change, it’s not just a case of cherry-picking the most useful data – but having the support and skills to do so.

For further insight into this topic, subscribers can download the Measurement and Analytics Report 2016 in full.

July is Data Month at Econsultancy, so be sure to check out our latest reports and blog posts.