There is a critical imbalance between the advanced skill levels that data workers possess and the utilisation of these talents within organisations, according to analytics automation firm Alteryx.
The study, which was commissioned by Alteryx from YouGov, pointed out that almost two thirds of data workers in the UAE and Saudi Arabia possess the advanced analytic skills needed to deliver business insights using descriptive, prescriptive and predictive analytics. Yet, only 28% of workers use these talents to unlock business benefits such as greater efficiency, or revenue growth through creating data models.
It also revealed that while data driven insights have eluded many companies due to a lack of skilled data workers, businesses across the Gulf are falling behind due to underutilising the talent of those in the workforce.
Alan Jacobson, chief data and analytics officer, Alteryx, said, “Digital transformation has moved beyond boardroom discussions. It’s now mission-critical for businesses to fully leverage analytics and data science to decipher the massive influx of data developing across lines of business. Despite the inherent value of data-led decision making, there is a critical disconnect between the expertise we see in the Gulf and the value these employees are able to bring to both driving new strategies and further optimising the business to run smarter.”
Making full use of the analytic expertise available is a core requirement for the Gulf to continue competing on a global stage. Despite the majority of data workers (72%) being able to generate additional revenue through data, these experts are often limited to creating static reports (61%). Just 35% use their skills to create exploratory analyses, and only 37% use data to identify future outcomes based on historical data through predictive analytics.
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Alteryx also found that 89% of data workers in the Gulf currently rank their skills as ‘above average’, and report they are given the time (61%) training (60%), and tools (59%) to succeed. The report noted that while not every data worker needs to become a fully fledged data scientist, by ensuring that these specialists are empowered to deliver insights across business functions, organisations can turbocharge their transformation efforts with pre-existing resource and thrive in an increasingly data-rich environment.
A huge 80% of workers believe that data literacy is important, or key to success. In order to take advantage of these high levels of data literacy, Alteryx encourages Gulf businesses to integrate top-down thinking to facilitate a culture of analytics.
Furthermore, the study highlighted that upskilling is vital in enabling teams to deliver business value through data skills. With higher value workers delivering a disproportionately higher return to their employer, there is a significant correlation between an increased salary and the use of advanced data skills such as identifying risks and developing action plans (56%), and improving decision making (49%). This is why empowering workers to leverage data assets and deliver high-impact high-value insights is hugely valuable to businesses.
“In a region that most would consider data driven, there’s still plenty of room for data strategies to evolve – ensuring that skilled workers can effectively communicate the data-driven insights necessary for company success,” said Richard Timperlake, VP, EMEA, Alteryx. “Despite high levels of advanced data skills, businesses across the Gulf risk falling behind due to an inability to utilise this talent.
