>> It's no surprise that 73% of organizations indicate analytics spend will outpace other software investments in the next 12 to 18 months. After all, as we know, data is changing the world, and the world is changing with it. But is everyone's spending resulting in the same ROI? This is Lisa Martin. Welcome to the Cube's presentation of "Democratizing Analytics Across the Enterprise," made possible by Alteryx. An Alteryx-commissioned IDC InfoBrief entitled, Four Ways to Unlock Transformative Business Outcomes From Analytics Investments, found that 93% of organizations are not utilizing the analytics skills of their employees, which is creating a widening analytics gap. On this special Cube presentation, Jason Klein, Product Marketing Director of Alteryx, will join me to share key findings from the new Alteryx-commissioned IDC Brief, and uncover how enterprises can derive more value from their data. In our second segment, we'll hear from Alan Jacobson, Chief Data and Analytics Officer at Alteryx. He's going to discuss how organizations across all industries can accelerate their analytic maturity to drive transformational business outcomes. And then, in our final segment, Paula Hansen, who is the President and Chief Revenue Officer of Alteryx, and Jacqui Van der Leij-Greyling, who is the Global Head of Tax Technology at eBay, they'll join me. They're going to share how Alteryx is helping the global eCommerce company innovate with analytics. Let's get the show started. (upbeat music) Jason Klein joins me next, Product Marketing Director at Alteryx. Jason, welcome to the program. >> Hello, nice to be here. >> Excited to talk with you. What can you tell me about the new Alteryx IDC research which spoke with about 1500 leaders? What nuggets were in there? >> Well, as the business landscape changes over the next 12 to 18 months, we're going to see that analytics is going to be a key component to navigating this change. 73% of the orgs indicated that analytics spend will outpace other software investments. But just putting more money towards technology, it isn't going to solve everything. And this is why everyone's spending is resulting in different ROIs. And one of the reasons for this gap is because 93% of organizations, they're still not fully using the analytics skills of their employees. And this widening analytics gap, it's threatening operational progress by wasting workers' time, harming business productivity, and introducing costly errors. So in this research, we developed a framework of enterprise analytics proficiency that helps organizations reap greater benefits from their investments. And we based this framework on the behaviors of organizations that saw big improvements across financial, customer, and employee metrics. And we're able to focus on the behaviors driving higher ROI. >> So the InfoBrief also revealed that nearly all organizations are planning to increase their analytics spend. And it looks like from the InfoBrief that nearly three quarters plan on spending more on analytics than any other software. And can you unpack what's driving this demand, this need for analytics across organizations? >> Sure, well, first, there's more data than ever before. The data's changing the world, and the world is changing data. Enterprises across the world, they're accelerating digital transformation to capitalize on new opportunities, to grow revenue, to increase margins, and to improve customer experiences. And analytics, along with automation and AI, is what's making digital transformation possible. They're providing the fuel to new digitally enabled lines of business. >> Yet not all analytics spending is resulting in the same ROI. So, what are some of the discrepancies that the InfoBrief uncovered with respect to ROI? >> Well, our research with IDC revealed significant roadblocks across people, processes and technologies, all preventing companies from reaping greater benefits from their investments. So on the people side, for example, only one out of five organizations reported a commensurate investment in upskilling for analytics and data literacy as compared to the technology itself. And next, while data is everywhere, most organizations, 63% in our survey, are still not using the full breadth of data types available. Data has never been this prolific. It's going to continue to grow, and orgs should be using it to their advantage. And lastly, organizations, they need to provide the right analytic tools to help everyone unlock the power of data, yet instead, they're relying on outdated spreadsheet technology. Nine out of 10 survey respondents said that less than half of their knowledge workers are active users of analytics software. True analytics transformation can't happen for an organization in a few select pockets or silos. We believe everyone, regardless of skill level, should be able to participate in the data and analytics process and drive value. >> So if I look at this holistically then, what would you say organizations need to do to make sure that they're really deriving value from their investments in analytics? >> Yeah, sure. So overall, the enterprises that derive more value >> from their data and analytics and achieved more ROI, they invested more aggressively in the four dimensions of enterprise analytics proficiency. So they've invested in the comprehensiveness of analytics, across all data sources and data types, meaning they're applying analytics to everything. They've invested in the flexibility of analytics across deployment scenarios and departments, meaning they're putting analytics everywhere. They've invested in the ubiquity of analytics and insights for every skill level, meaning they're making analytics for everyone. And they've invested in the usability of analytics software, meaning they're prioritizing easy technology to accelerate analytics democratization. >> So are there any specific areas that the survey uncovered where most companies are falling short? Like any black holes organizations need to be aware of from the outset? >> It did. You need to build a data-centric culture, and this begins with people. But we found that the people aspect of analytics is most heavily skewed towards low proficiency. In order to maximize ROI, organizations need to make sure everyone has access to the data and analytics technology they need. Organizations that align their analytics investments with upskilling enjoy higher ROI than orgs that are less aligned. For example, among the high ROI achievers in our survey, 78% had good or great alignment between analytics investments and workforce upskilling, compared to only 64% among those without positive ROI. And as more enterprises adopt cloud data warehouses or cloud data lakes to manage increasingly massive data sets, analytics needs to exist everywhere, especially for those cloud environments. And what we found is organizations that use more data types and more data sources generate higher ROI from their analytics investments. Among those with improved customer metrics, 90% were good or great at utilizing all data sources compared to only 67% among the ROI laggards. >> So interesting that you mentioned people. I'm glad that you mentioned people. Data scientists, everybody talks about data scientists. They're in high demand. We know that, but there aren't enough to meet the needs of all enterprises. So given that discrepancy, how can organizations fill the gap and really maximize the investments that they're making in analytics? >> Right. So analytics democratization, it's no longer optional, but it doesn't have to be complex. So we at Alteryx, we're democratizing analytics by empowering every organization to upskill every worker into a data worker. And the data from this survey shows this is the optimal approach. Organizations with a higher percentage of knowledge workers who are actively using analytics software enjoy higher returns from their analytics investment than orgs still stuck on spreadsheets. Among those with improved financial metrics, AKA the high ROI achievers, nearly 70% say that at least a quarter of their knowledge workers are using analytics software other than spreadsheets compared to only 56% in the low ROI group. Also, among the high ROI performers, 63% said data and analytic workers collaborate well or extremely well, compared to only 51% in the low ROI group. The data from the survey shows that supporting more business domains with analytics and providing cross-functional analytics correlates with higher ROI. So to maximize ROI, orgs should be transitioning workers from spreadsheets to analytics software. They should be letting them collaborate effectively, and letting them do so cross-functionally >> Yeah, that cross-functional collaboration is essential for anyone in any organization and in any discipline. Another key thing that jumped out from the survey was around shadow IT. The business side is using more data science tools than the IT side, and is expected to spend more on analytics than other IT. What risks does this present to the overall organization? If IT and the lines of business guys and gals aren't really aligned? >> Well, there needs to be better collaboration and alignment between IT and the line of business. The data from the survey, however, shows that business managers, they're expected to spend more on analytics and use more analytics tools than IT is aware of. And this is because the lines of business have recognized the value of analytics and plan to invest accordingly. But a lack of alignment between IT and business, this will negatively impact governance, which ultimately impedes democratization and hence, ROI. >> So Jason, where can organizations that are maybe at the outset of their analytics journey, or maybe they're in environments where there's multiple analytics tools across shadow IT, where can they go to Alteryx to learn more about how they can really simplify, streamline, and dial up the value on their investment? >> Well, they can learn more, you know, on our website. I also encourage them to explore the Alteryx community, which has lots of best practices, not just in terms of how you do the analytics, but how you stand up an Alteryx environment. But also to take a look at your analytics stack, and prioritize technologies that can snap to and enhance your organization's governance posture. It doesn't have to change it, but it should be able to align to and enhance it. >> And of course, as you mentioned, it's about people, process and technologies. Jason, thank you so much for joining me today, unpacking the IDC InfoBrief and the great nuggets in there. Lots that organizations can learn, and really become empowered to maximize their analytics investments. We appreciate your time. >> Thank you. It's been a pleasure. >> In a moment, Alan Jacobson, who's the Chief Data and Analytics Officer at Alteryx, is going to join me. He's going to be here to talk about how organizations across all industries can accelerate their analytic maturity to drive transformational business outcomes. You're watching the Cube, the leader in tech enterprise coverage. (gentle music)