Real-time, real value: 80% of businesses see revenue increases thanks to real-time data

Announced today at the Gartner® Data & Analytics Summit 2022, the in-depth report surveyed over 1,200 companies spanning six countries (US, UK, France, Germany, Singapore, and Australia) in four key sectors (manufacturing, automotive, finance and insurance, and telecommunications). Its headline findings are that 80% of companies surveyed have seen their revenues increase after implementing real-time analytics. The total potential revenue uplift is $2.6 trillion across the regions and sectors surveyed with a further $1.6 trillion of future additional revenue also possible.

Drawing on a combination of both quantitative and qualitative research and economic modeling, the report clearly demonstrates the measurable commercial and operational value that real-time data management and analytics technologies can deliver across major industry sectors. 98% of respondents reported increased customer satisfaction while 60% are seeing major efficiency and productivity gains. For example, the study results indicate that $321 billion in non-personnel-related operating costs have been saved thanks to real-time data analytics. Moreover, this number could rise to $379 billion if real-time data analytics were fully implemented across all firms in the key industry sectors surveyed.

Kathy Schneider, Chief Marketing Officer, KX: “As the headline findings of this report show, by implementing real-time data analytics technologies, businesses globally can realize significant measurable business value. From process improvements to cost reductions and tangible impact on business revenues, the benefits are wide-reaching. This study provides a call to action for businesses not yet leveraging real-time streaming data to modernize their approach and not get left behind.”

Owen Good, Head of Economic Advisory at CEBR: “Our research sets out both the scale and breadth of the economic benefits supported by real-time data. Based on a survey of over 1,200 business decision-makers across six countries and four industries, we estimated significant firm-level and macroeconomic benefits associated with both the current and potential utilization of the technologies. Notably, we estimate that firm-level gains from using real-time data – driven by productivity gains from more efficient processing and managing of data – resulted in an uplift of $7.4 billion in gross value added across all six countries, with a further potential increase of $3.6 billion if the benefits of real-time data were fully exploited.”

Report Highlights

The report identifies several key ‘value outcomes’ that businesses in the manufacturing, automotive, finance and insurance, and telecommunications sectors can expect to achieve after implementing real-time data analytics technologies.

Overall revenue uplift:

• 80% of businesses across the study reported an increase in revenues attributable to real-time data equating to a possible total recognized value of $2.6 trillion.
• All markets reported an average increase in revenues across the four industry sectors with France posting the largest increase (21%), Germany (18%), the USA (18%) UK (14%), Singapore (12%), and Australia (9%).
• This equates to an average total potential increase in revenue of 17.5% across the six markets and four industries surveyed.

More efficient processes:

• Across most regions, organizations in manufacturing, finance, and telecoms all reported more efficient rollout processes when developing and launching new applications, products, and services after implementing real-time data systems.
• Notable results include the telco sector in the UK where 86% of businesses reported more efficient rollout processes for new products and services after implementing real-time data systems. Similarly, 50% of Australian telcos reported the same.
• In finance and insurance, 74% of French firms reported greater efficiencies, 67% of US firms, and 61% of German firms.
• In manufacturing, every market reported more efficient rollout processes, with 73% of manufacturers in the USA and 70% in Australia leading the way.

Improved customer experience:

• Every sector and geo reported positive gains in terms of customer satisfaction, such as faster service delivery; increased sales; better product quality; and reduced costs.
• The most positive impact was recorded in the Telecoms sector, where 39% of all respondents stated a significant growth of positive feedback after implementing real-time data, and 52% stated moderate.
• Similarly to the UK, respondents from Germany stated the biggest increase in customer feedback was as a result of the delivery of faster services; 64% overall. This is highest in the Finance industry with 80%, but both Manufacturing (70%) and Telecoms (65%) have strong feedback.

Reduced operational costs (non-workforce):

• The overall reduction in costs is a significant value outcome for every industry in almost every country The impact of real-time data on this Value Outcome is the greatest in the USA where more than $187 billion could be saved overall.
• For Germany the figure is $97 billion, France $57bn and the UK $25bn. Even for a market, the size of Australia’s, full adoption of real-time data could save $7.3 billion.
• An estimated $321 billion in cost is saved across all assessed industries, while full adoption of real-time data analytics for all firms across these industries could see this rise to almost $379 billion.

Detecting anomalous activities:

• For detecting anomalous activities, real-time data delivers positive operational and financial results across every industry polled
• In the US, 84% of manufacturers saw at least a moderate reduction, while 83% reported the same in telecoms
• In the UK, the telecoms sector saw 100% of surveyed businesses reporting some reduction in anomalies, with a quarter seeing a significant reduction
• After implementing real-time data, 90% of respondents from Germany stated there was a reduction in the number of anomalies to some extent.

The research also found that the definition of ‘real-time’ among businesses has evolved significantly over the last year. According to KX’s Microsecond Mindset report, published in February 2021, 13% of businesses defined real-time as a millisecond or less – these new findings show this has now almost doubled to 25%.