Today, businesses generate unprecedented amounts of data, from customer interactions and sales transactions to operational processes and sensor readings. Yet less than 10% of organizations utilize their insights-driven capabilities. This represents a massive untapped potential.

Many businesses struggle to turn this data into actionable insights, hindering their ability to improve efficiency, personalize customer experiences, and drive growth. This disconnect between data volume and actionable insights is a critical challenge in the modern business landscape. The good news is that new data solutions are emerging to help businesses finally unlock the potential hidden within their data.

The Hidden Tax of Data Complexity

This problem comes from having complex and scattered data management. Data lives in different silos with different teams using different tools, legacy systems coexisting with cloud applications, and valuable information spread across various platforms. Poor-quality data costs organizations an average of $12.9 million annually.

This fragmentation creates a "hidden tax" on organizations, manifesting in several ways:

  • Constant data model change requests
  • Multiple copies of the same data leading to confusion
  • Unreliable data models
  • Slow, request-driven access to information.

All of this adds up to more than just lost efficiency. It leads to missed opportunities.

A Unified Platform: The Foundation for the Future

The solution lies with a unified platform that consolidates all information and provides the tools and infrastructure necessary to collect, clean, transform, and organize data into usable products. This approach is crucial for survival in our data-driven world. McKinsey's vision of the "data-driven enterprise of 2030" paints a picture of a future where "data ubiquity" or widespread presence of data is the norm.

ForbesFrom Surviving To Thriving: How To Bring Out The Best In Your BusinessBy Richard Howells

This is where the SAP Business Data Cloud comes in. The SAP Business Data Cloud is a software-as-a-s ervice single platform that unifies your data and analytics needs and centralizes data from SAP and non-SAP sources into a unified semantic layer, unlocking a new dimension of insights, advanced analytics, and AI capabilities.

At the core of this unified approach is a concept that can be visualized as a central hub of "harmonized data." This hub acts as the heart of the unified data platform, fed by various spokes representing different data sources: traditional enterprise applications, SaaS solutions, and data lakes.

The platform utilizes a combination of cloud-based tools and a robust data “lake house” architecture to bring all this disparate information together. This allows businesses to maintain all their raw data while also organizing it for specific analytical needs.

The key features include:

  • Data Integration: Connecting to different data sources.
  • Data Governance: Making sure data is accurate and consistent.
  • Data Modelling: Creating a common understanding of the data.
  • Data Transformation: Cleaning and preparing data for analysis.
  • Analytics and AI: Offering tools for visualizing, reporting, and advanced analytics. SAP BDC also has ready-made reports through Insight Apps.

This platform aims to create a unified view of data across the organization. It centralizes data into a unified semantic layer, unlocking new insights and enabling advanced analytics and AI capabilities. This approach simplifies data management and transforms how businesses leverage their information assets.

Critically, the integration of SAP Databricks within SAP BDC provides a powerful engine for advanced data engineering and machine learning. Databricks' capabilities, combined with BDC's unified data foundation, enable organizations to build sophisticated AI models and generate deeper insights, accelerating the journey from raw data to actionable intelligence.

Data as a Strategic Asset in the Digital Age

The benefits of this kind of data management are significant. Retailers can combine online and in-store sales with loyalty data for a true view of customer value, enabling personalized offers and optimized inventory. Manufacturers can combine sensor and production data to predict equipment failures, optimize maintenance, and reduce downtime. Financial firms gain a unified customer view, offering personalized advice, tailored investments, and proactive fraud detection. These are just a few examples of how a unified data platform can transform businesses, turning data from a scattered resource into a powerful engine for strategic decision-making.

From Data-Reactive to Data-Driven

Clive Humby's assertion that "data is the new oil" remains relevant even today. Like oil, data requires refinement to be useful. Organizations that successfully implement comprehensive, unified data strategies will lead in our increasingly data-driven business landscape.

A unified approach to data management unlocks the full potential of business information. Solutions like SAP Business Data Cloud exemplify this approach, offering a unified platform for data and analytics needs. Such platforms empower organizations to:

  • Make better, data-informed decisions
  • Improve operational efficiency
  • Foster greater innovation

By embracing this unified strategy, businesses position themselves to thrive in the next era of enterprise management. Those who master data refinement and utilization will gain a significant competitive edge in the evolving business landscape.

Learn more about SAP Business Unleashed here.