Experian Data’s 2016 global data management research study took a look at data management and data quality trends from around the globe.

Polling responses from numerous industries across eight countries and more than 1,400 people with a keen insight into their organization’s data management processes, Experian uncovered some interesting stats.

Data is a crucial part of any business strategy and decision-making today. Its importance is expected to rise with most sales decisions expected to be influenced by customer data by 2020. However, our increasing appetite for data doesn’t mean that we’re adequately equipped to manage it.

Experian uncovered a lot of interesting information in the study, but some of the stats are a little spooky too.

Top 10 Data Quality Stats From 2016

1. For the 6th year in a row, the number one cause of inaccurate data globally is human error.

Scary, right? Given that this post was published on Halloween, we thought you wouldn’t mind too much.

While it is a scary fact that the number 1 cause of inaccurate data globally is human error, there’s an easy way to take care of that problem. Not to be up in your face salesy, but we kind of specialize in reducing data entry errors.

In case you didn’t know, the apps we develop at Commercient are designed to sync your ERP data with your CRM and eliminate the risk of data entry errors. If you’d like to learn more about how it works, contact us.

2. On average, 25% of all customer or prospect data is believed to be inaccurate.

Globally, the average amount of inaccurate data has risen from 17% to 22% in just 12 months. It’s US organizations who report having the highest percentage of inaccurate data across the planet.

3. Over the last year, businesses have noticed an increase in the frequency of data errors in the following areas:

–Incomplete or missing data increased from 51% in 2015 to 60% in 2016.

–Outdated information increased from 48% in 2015 to 54% in 2016.

–Duplicate data increased from 32% in 2015 to 51% in 2016.

4. Email, mobile phones, and social media are the most important types of marketing and customer communications used in 2016.

This one shouldn’t surprise anybody. Email plays a role in 75% of all marketing efforts, mobile phones are used in 42% of all efforts, and social media fits into 38% of customer communication efforts.

5. Over the next five years, businesses believe management will evolve to:

–Improve the overall customer experience (95%)

–Protect customer security (93%)

–Make use of real-time analytics to help inform decision making (90%)

6. Roughly 30% of businesses are using the creation of a high-quality data strategy to comply with industry or government legislation.

Given the number of channels through which data is entered, it’s important that businesses create a centralized strategy for data management. Taking a central approach will ensure consistency across all departments and improve best practices related to data management.

7. Surprisingly, 79% of businesses believe responsibility for data quality should ultimately lie within the business with occasional help from the IT department.

This is a shift from the historical mindset that anything to do with data should rest on the shoulders of IT. However, the responsibility of data is currently very fragmented, with numerous stakeholders and measured department-by-department, rather than across the business as a whole.

8. Nearly 31% of businesses have their data quality maintained centrally by a single director.

Given the importance of data-driven efforts, the level of inaccurate data needs to decrease. Improved data quality leads to better consumer interactions and informed business decisions.

But in order to create a centralized approach to data quality management, businesses need to consolidate different sources of information and not leave the responsibility of data to one department alone.

Unfortunately, at the time Experian Data Quality’s report was released, 66% of all businesses lack a coherent, centralized approach

9. Out of all companies surveyed, 94% reported experiencing internal challenges while trying to improve their data quality. The biggest internal challenges to improving data quality are:

–Lack of knowledge or skills (32%)

–Lack of human resources or employees (31%)

–Time-to-value expectations (27%)

10. Comparatively, the biggest external challenges to managing data are:

–Issues around data capture and validation (46%)

–Security/governance risk (40%)

–Data profiling (34%)

Businesses that Experian surveyed to obtain this information came from a variety of industries including tech, manufacturing, financial services, business services, healthcare, retail, education, travel and more.

Are you considering consolidating different sources of data, like syncing your ERP data with your CRM system? Send us a message to learn more about how our data syncing app, Commercient SYNC, can help.

Source: The state of data quality, An Experian Data Quality white paper