Data to increase New Zealand’s business revenue by $25Mn

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND — Harnessing the power of data could help businesses in New Zealand increase their annual revenue by 9.5%, said IT service management firm Amazon Web Services (AWS) and professional services network Deloitte. 

This corresponds to NZD 25 million (US$15.8 million) in additional annual revenues for organizations with more than 200 employees. 

According to the Demystifying Data 2022 report, Kiwi businesses with more than 100 employees improved their data capabilities in the past 12 months, with 33% achieving Advanced or Master levels of data maturity versus 16% in 2021. 

More than half (57%) of businesses surveyed reported that effectively capturing and analyzing data can lead to improvements in customer experience, followed by increased productivity (48%), and streamlined business processes (47%).

However, other large businesses in New Zealand continue to face challenges in climbing the data maturity ladder, with 68% of businesses achieving Basic and Beginner data maturity. 

Respondents said that this drawback is due to a lack of funding (51%) and competing priorities (38%). In addition, 41% of businesses said that tools and technology had also prevented them from adopting more advanced data analytics.

Meanwhile, 40% of business leaders said that they lack skilled talent that would help them develop their data and analytics capabilities. 

As a solution, 31% of organizations said that they prefer upskilling their employees, while 30% tried their hand at outsourcing. 

Tiffany Bloomquist, Country Manager of Commercial Sector at AWS New Zealand, said that organizations will benefit from “building data skills within their teams.”

She added that as organizations increase their data maturity, “it will transform how they go about solving problems and building customer experiences, which will lead to breakthroughs in all industries, including healthcare, finance, retail trade, and manufacturing operations.”