High investment, low return: the data value gap
Over the past decade, organisations have poured billions into data infrastructure. The global data and analytics market was set to reach $348 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $924 billion by 2032.
Yet despite this massive ongoing investment, many leaders still struggle to access the insight they need to run their organisations effectively.
A survey of Fortune 1000 firms reveals the disconnect: 88% of firms surveyed, were increasing investment in data and analytics, yet only 24% report having created a data-driven organisation.
This is the data value gap, a very real and persistent divide between what organisations spend on data and the measurable value they extract from it.
The inconvenient truth? Many data initiatives fail to achieve the speed, scale, or impact hoped for. Not because of a lack of tools or ambition, but because data is still treated as a technology issue, rather than as a business-critical asset.
Technology alone hasn’t solved the data challenge
For many leadership teams, this frustration is familiar and justified. The business case for investment in cloud, analytics, and AI was clear: enable smarter, faster decisions. Yet years down the line, strategic outcomes often seem out of reach.
Instead, organisations face ongoing challenges:
- KPIs that don’t reconcile across departments
- Reports that raise more questions than answers
- AI models that stall due to poor data quality
- Critical decisions still based on incomplete or untrustworthy information
What was promised as a leap forward has, for many, added another layer of complexity.
Why the data value gap persists
1. Data is framed as a technical problem
Data initiatives are scoped around systems and infrastructure, rather than business outcomes, leading to misalignment between what’s built and what the business needs.
2. Fragmented management and governance
Without a shared, value-led framework, data is managed in silos and fails to meet the strategic needs of the organisation.
3. Project-led thinking
Data is often treated as a series of one-off projects, rather than an evolving business capability tied to long-term value delivery.
4. Output, not outcomes
Success is measured by volume, number of reports, models, pipelines, rather than the impact on decisions, growth, cost, or risk.
The result is predictable: a disconnect between data capabilities and business value delivery. Until that gap is closed, investments will continue to underperform.
The answer: treat data as a strategic business asset
Closing the data value gap starts with a shift in mindset. Data must be managed with the same discipline as capital, talent, or IP: not as exhaust from systems, but as a core asset tied to enterprise value.
This is where strategic data asset management comes in. It begins not by asking what tools we need, but rather:
“What is the business value of our data and how must we manage it to realise that value?”
In this approach, technology is part of the answer, but never the whole equation.
How Anmut helps organisations realise the value of their data
At Anmut, we help organisations treat data as the strategic asset it is. We start with business value, not tools, building an approach that makes visible your mission critical data, its value to your business, what needs to be done to make it viable, and how to ensure it is fit and ready for ongoing value-creation.
We help clients:
- Identify the risks and opportunities linked to data
- Quantify the value of data to strategic objectives
- Understand the gap between the data they have and the data they need
- Improve the condition and quality of critical data assets
- Prioritise investment and effort based on business value
- Design a tailored operating model for sustainable data value delivery
- Measure and track the ongoing impact of data investments
This shifts the conversation, from infrastructure to impact, from volume to value.
Shifting accountability from infrastructure to impact
Strategic data asset management reframes the challenge:
“Are we generating business value from our data, and if not, why?”
It embeds data purposefully into the organisation, aligned to business outcomes, co-owned by business and technology, and measurable at every stage. Most importantly, it gives leaders a compelling, boardroom-level case for why data must be treated as a protected and governed asset, not a sunk cost.
The organisations that win with data are those that stop focusing on platforms and start focusing on outcomes.
Growth doesn’t come from more tools; it comes from better use of the data you already have.
If your organisation is investing heavily in data but not seeing the return, it’s time to take a different approach.
Book a discovery call with our team to assess where your data is today, and where it could take you tomorrow.