Sisense Releases The State of BI & Analytics Report 2020: Special COVID-19 Edition

Sisense, the world’s leading analytics platform for builders of analytics, announced the results from its State of BI & Analytics Report 2020: Special COVID-19 Edition, an exhaustive survey of 500 US companies conducted by research firm Meidata. The findings indicate the increased importance and central role of examining data to enable organizations to understand changes and business opportunities during and following the COVID-19 economic turmoil. Respondents were optimistic about the continuing importance of analytics. Forty-nine percent of companies surveyed also use data analytics more or much more than before the COVID-19 crisis. This is despite 67% of businesses sustaining a loss of revenues or customers, according to Dresner Advisory Services.

“If we’ve learned anything during COVID-19, no matter how tumultuous the economic environment, businesses of all sizes indicate an interest and optimism in their ability to leverage technologies like data analytics to help guide them through critical decision making,” said Howard Dresner, Chief Research Office of Dresner Advisory Services.

Survey Findings

Key findings from the report indicate:

BI and analytics professionals remain optimistic

Analytics are as important as ever to the respondents, offering increased clarity in a time of tremendous uncertainty. Forty-nine percent of those surveyed said analytics were more or much more important than before COVID-19. Respondents report an increase in analytics use and new opportunities across all departments.

Small businesses lead the charge using analytics to fight COVID-19

Facing different business challenges, smaller companies, between 51 and 200 employees, shifted the most to adopt new use cases for their data in response to the crisis. They lead larger enterprises in the use of analytics across every department, with 68% of small businesses using analytics during the crisis in Operations, 56% in Finance, 50% in Sales, and 45% in Product.

Companies are using data in new ways during the crisis

Companies have refocused their data usage to address the most pressing challenges and opportunities they face today. For example, 55% of businesses have started utilizing data to improve efficiency and rely on it to predict changes and outcomes. Forty-seven percent look to their data as indicators of how they can better support their customers, and 45% count on data to predict business outcomes.

“Robust use of data analytics is no longer simply the mark of an industry leader but a crucial quality for the success and even survival of most companies,” said Amir Orad, CEO of Sisense. “Companies who adopt data-driven decision making separate themselves from the pack. With analytics they find those vital pivot points and thrive versus facing existential danger. For example, recently a Fortune 500 customer’s revenue dropped 95+% due to the economic crisis while at the exact same time their analytics usage shot up by 40%. And this is not a single or unique anecdote.”

The focus of analytics varies according to size of the company, with larger companies (5,000 or more employees) tending to leverage analytics more for improving business efficiency and reducing expenses versus small businesses, who are more focused on efficiency and supporting customers.

Future Research

The State of BI & Analytics Report 2020 is an inaugural research study from Sisense. Plans are to field future surveys and accompanying reports at least twice yearly. Given the data and analytics market is rapidly evolving, Sisense will release in the coming weeks and months additional industry-specific results and more details on the use of business data and analytics specifically among small companies with less than 500 employees.

The complete report, The State of BI & and Analytics Report 2020: Special COVID-19 Edition is available now.

Read this detailed case study of how a retail outlet tapped into the power of analytics for critical insights and decision-making to navigate their business during COVID-19.