Real Impact – The Value of Real-Time Data Analytics - Image by Gerd Altmann from PixabayValue. It’s on every business leader’s mind, whether they manage thousands of staff or a team of 10. Tightening budgets and rising operating costs mean every technology investment a company makes must result in measurable value to the business. What’s often hard to quantify, however, is how much a company’s choice of technology can positively impact the top and bottom lines of the business.

Analytics are a great example. At the end of last year, 90% of businesses planned to increase investment in analytics software and systems to derive value from their data (The Microsecond Mindset). It’s easy to see how having real-time insight into customer behavior or business processes can drive operational efficiencies. How, though, does this translate into commercial value? Can data analysis really generate hard financial gains? And are specific industries or geographies capitalizing more than others?

Independent research shows the benefits of real-time data

To answer these questions, KX commissioned a piece of independent research with economic forecasting organization, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). The report, Speed to Business Value, shows real-time data is already having a significant impact across numerous measures. It is particularly important when it comes to revenue — the potential revenue uplift is staggering.

The survey looked at six countries and those firms in those countries that utilize real-time data. The average reported revenue increases attributable to real-time data range from 9% (Australia) to 21% (France).

Across the industries surveyed, the estimated dollar value of these revenue increases is $2.6 trillion. In fact, eighty percent of companies surveyed have seen their revenues rise. According to Gross Value Added (GVA) analyses, the impact is not just theoretical. Two-thirds of this potential value (68%) is already hitting company books.

Revenue uplift from real-time data analytics also enabled these companies to make strategic reinvestments into the business, specifically an estimated $2.6 billion worth. Full utilization of real-time data is expected to drive a further $1.2 billion potential increase. Moreover, virtually all (98%) report increased customer satisfaction, and 60% see major efficiency and productivity.

The Upside for Specific Sectors and Regions

Looking at specific countries shows interesting differences — take the US market, for example. It’s not surprising to see the US finance and insurance industries capitalizing on real-time data. Finance companies have long been the first movers in adopting data science. It’s manufacturing, however, where the greatest potential can be seen.

Currently, the US market is seeing the most economic benefit from real-time analytics. The overall impact of real-time data on revenue increase is an incredible almost $2.3 trillion. The US manufacturing industry alone could benefit by almost $1 trillion, with revenues expected to increase nearly $2.1 trillion overall.

Across all regions, the manufacturing sector has the highest increase potential, closely followed by automotive (particularly in the UK). In Germany, the automotive sector has seen the greatest benefit. Companies in that sector reported a 6.1% uplift in productivity.

Interestingly, while telecom companies report some benefits of real-time analytics, there’s a huge opportunity for this to increase. Telecom companies are poised to capitalize on private 5G networks. These are expected to spring up within manufacturing organizations to support factory-wide IIoT networks. They will have to support thousands of individual sensors that need help making sense of the data.

Potential Realized, With More to Come

According to Gartner, more than half of major new business systems today incorporate continuous intelligence that uses real-time context data to improve decisions. IDC estimates that by 2025, 30% of data will be real-time, and 49% will reside in the public cloud.

There is a need for better data management and processing, data architecture optimization, dynamic operational and financial surveillance, cost reductions and productivity gains. With real-time data analytics, these enterprise-wide capabilities will drive even greater potential and profitability. But being able to act upon real-time data is an important aspect of business operations that extends beyond company performance. It also has a tangible, demonstrative impact on the top line.

If you’re ready to realize the upside of real-time data analytics in your own business, begin by asking yourself these questions:

  • What are our goals? What do we hope to achieve by utilizing real-time analytics?
  • Do we understand where our data resides and have a plan for managing it?
  • Do we have the resources, including skills, to deliver a successful real-time data analytics program?
  • Have we taken steps to ensure and support a data-driven culture internally?
  • Have we identified the right partners to accelerate our success in this evolving data landscape?

As we enter the leaner, post-pandemic business landscape, businesses around the world will increasingly seek ways to unlock competitive advantage. Is your organization optimized to act in this new frontier?


KXKX is the leading technology company for real-time data analytics and decision intelligence. Built on kdb+ — independently benchmarked as the world’s fastest time-series database — KX Insights is our high-performance, in-memory computing, streaming analytics and operational intelligence platform. It uniquely combines real-time data with historical context for high-volume, data-intensive analytics and applications across multiple industries. KX is part of FD Technologies plc, a group of data-driven businesses that operates from 15 offices across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific and employs more than 3000 people worldwide. For more information visit www.kx.com.

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