Extra tags: Data PowerCloud Data
Today, Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com company, released findings from a new research report, which shows that organizations in Singapore that harness the power of data can grow their annual revenue by 10.6% on average. For large organizations with over 100 employees, this is equivalent to S$149 million in additional annual revenue.
The Demystifying Data 2022 report, commissioned by AWS and prepared by Deloitte Access Economics, surveyed 501 senior business decision-makers in Singaporean organizations. The report measured their data maturity – the extent by which an organization uses the data they produce – using a five-point scale, which ranges from Basic and Beginner (limited or no data strategy, not effectively capturing or analyzing data), to Intermediate (emerging data strategy, data is analyzed on an ad-hoc basis), to Advanced and Mastery (firmwide data strategy, analytics embedded frequently into decision-making).
Nearly half (45%) of organizations surveyed in Singapore shared that effectively capturing and analyzing data can lead to improved productivity, followed by improvements in customer experience (43%), and increased sales and revenue (39%). However, the report found that despite the growing importance of data capabilities in an increasingly digital world, 57% of organizations in Singapore are still in the Basic or Beginner stages of data maturity.
Surveyed organizations in the finance and insurance sector ranked the highest on the data maturity scale, with 32% of these organizations achieving Advanced or Master levels, followed by healthcare and social assistance (26%), and information, media, and telecommunications (26%). Conversely, organizations in the electricity, gas and water supply sector as well as education and training have the lowest levels of data maturity, with less than 10% of surveyed organizations in these industries achieving Advanced or Master levels of data maturity.
While there are advantages to businesses in improving data maturity, organizations in Singapore still face challenges in climbing the data maturity ladder. The main barrier cited by organizations to using data and analytics was lack of funding (38%), which has been exacerbated by COVID-19, with 40% of businesses reporting that competing priorities since the onset of the pandemic have led to fewer resources for data and analytics. Additional barriers include data security and risk (37%) and access to skilled resources (36%).
“As organizations invest more in digital transformation, it has created an opportunity for greater use of data to improve productivity, generate financial returns for their business, and create a positive impact on the economy. Yet from our research, only 18% of organizations in Singapore have invested in the necessary technology, talent, and processes needed to unlock the full potential of their data,” said Chris Lewin partner at Deloitte. “Investing in cloud solutions will help businesses accelerate their data maturity levels and achieve data driven insights. In fact, businesses that already use the cloud are 22% more likely to cite productivity improvements as a benefit of data and analytics compared with businesses that have not adopted the cloud. To effectively turn data into a business advantage, organizations should have a clear and practical roadmap for advancing on the data maturity ladder, invest in attracting and retaining talent, and leverage the right technology to reap the full benefits.”
AWS launches AWS Data Lab in ASEAN to help organizations accelerate data maturity
According to the report, over one-third of organizations in Singapore (36%) reported access to skilled resources as a barrier to developing their data and analytics capabilities. To improve data maturity, 35% of surveyed organizations prefer to upskill their current employees to grow their data and analytics capabilities, followed by 30% that are looking to buy skills by hiring talent.
AWS is focused on breaking down barriers to help organizations bridge the data maturity gap and upskill their employees in data analytics. To help more organizations accelerate their data maturity journey, AWS today announced the launch of AWS Data Lab in ASEAN. Headquartered in Singapore, AWS Data Lab is a complimentary program that brings ASEAN customers and AWS data specialists together to solve complex data challenges in tangible ways, using AWS. During the engagement, AWS Data Lab Solutions Architects and AWS service experts support customers by providing guidance, sharing best practices, and removing technical roadblocks. Customers leave the engagement with a prototype that is custom fit to their needs, a path to production, and deeper knowledge of AWS services. The AWS Data Lab in ASEAN joins a network of labs across the world including Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
AWS is deeply invested in helping Singapore to address the digital and cloud skills shortage through digital education. AWS has trained over 200,000 individuals in Singapore with cloud skills since 2017. AWS offers a range of self-paced digital courses such as Data Analytics Fundamentals as well as industry- recognized certification such as the AWS Certified Data Analytics credential, which is intended for individuals with experience and expertise working with AWS services to design, build, secure, and maintain analytics solutions.
“Data can be an invaluable source of growth for organizations in Singapore. The key is recognizing its inherent value, analyzing it effectively, and creating a data-driven culture. No matter what stage organizations are in their data maturity journey, AWS is committed to helping customers in Singapore to leverage the scalability, cost efficiency, and security of the cloud to scale their data projects and unify their data to drive productivity and innovate on behalf of their customers,” said Luke Anderson, managing director of artificial intelligence and machine learning at AWS. “Organizations will also benefit from building internal data analytics skills, which may involve upskilling current staff through on-the-job training and training courses or partnering with organizations. We are pleased to expand the launch of AWS Data Lab in ASEAN to help customers in Singapore bridge the data maturity gap and accelerate their data journey on AWS. As organizations in Singapore increase their data maturity, it will transform how they go about solving problems and building customer experiences, which will lead to breakthroughs in all fields including healthcare, e-commerce, and manufacturing operations.”
“With the rise of hybrid work, many companies are looking to optimize the use of their workplaces to streamline business operations and reduce costs while transforming their offices to support the future of work,” said Francis Low, lead architect at Saltmine. “We participated in an AWS Data Lab to experiment with building an automated data platform that could visualize the percentage of rooms utilized in workplaces, which could be accessed by customers in real-time. In just five days, we built a prototype data platform using Amazon S3 and Amazon Redshift, which collects and processes data such as employee count, floorplans, and building capacity. We were then able to build an interactive visualization tool using Amazon QuickSight to gain real-time insights on meeting room utilization. AWS Data Lab gave us invaluable hands-on data engineering exposure, which helps us to build more capability and skills on the team as we grow. As we improve on our offerings to serve our customers better, our plan is to incorporate more advanced analytics into our platform, such as machine learning, to help us to deliver faster and deeper workspace predictions.”
