A joint study by MIT and the SAS institute reveals that 67 percent of companies believe they are gaining an advantage by employing business intelligence (BI) solutions.
The study also notes that some enterprises are doing this better than others, and that broadly they can be understood as existing in one of three categories: innovative, practicing and challenged. Interestingly, even organizations that are challenged in data management can move closer to the innovators by emulating their attitudes, practices and leadership models when it comes to incorporating BI utilities.
According to the MIT/SAS survey, the future of BI is in the midst of transition. Fewer than half the analytical innovators questioned considered their capture, analysis, distribution and use of data very efficient, demonstrating that the field is still in development.
The report recommends increased flexibility among managers and executives.
While the report points to a needs for more data scientists, such professionals can be few and far between in the current economy. Some, like Gartner research VP John Rizutto have called for the creation and development of data stewards to pick up some of the heavy lifting in developing BI models.