studiorighini.it

Data is the New Oil: how to turn your data into business value

06/30/2025

Authored by Bashar Jabban

Data has become one of the most talked-about assets in modern business, but the gap between potential and actual value remains wide. As digital interactions accelerate and complexity increases, organizations must rethink how they harness data, not just as information, but as a lever for making more intelligent decisions, achieving competitive advantage, and driving long-term growth.

In the pages that follow, we break down what it truly takes to transform data into business value.

From Raw Material to Strategic Asset

In the digital economy, data is abundant, but insight is scarce. The phrase "data is the new oil" captures the value of raw information, but just like crude oil, it must be refined before it becomes useful. Yet, most companies lack the strategy, tools, or culture to extract their actual value.

This issue explores:

Why businesses fail to unlock their data potential
How to build a truly data-driven organization
Real-world examples from retail, tech, and manufacturing
And the pitfalls and tools that separate success from struggle

✅ Let's turn that untapped oil into a tangible business advantage.

Why Most Data Strategies Fail

Despite the hype around data, most companies face persistent challenges:

No clear data strategy. Initiatives are tool-driven, not goal-driven
Siloed and fragmented systems. Data lives in isolated pockets
Limited analytics capabilities. Reporting lags behind business needs
Low data literacy. Teams often lack the training or confidence to use data effectively

"Recent research shows that while 90% of companies say data is critical, only 25% have an articulated data strategy. This gap often results in fragmented initiatives and suboptimal outcomes."
✅ These are not just technical issues—they're strategic failures.

The Hidden Costs of Poor Data Management

The scale of the problem is massive. According to the ForbesCapital One-Gartner study:

76% of companies find it challenging to understand their data
82% struggle to control and forecast data-related costs
80% lack proper data cataloging systems
$13 to 15 million/year is the average cost of poor data quality

“This is a per-organization average; the estimate applies broadly as an average annual cost due to poor business outcomes (e.g., reduced efficiency, compliance risks, lost revenue).”
✅ If you're not managing your data intentionally, you're leaking value daily.

How to Build a Data-Driven Organization

Here's a proven roadmap to transform raw data into a strategic advantage:

1. Develop a Data Strategy
Align your data efforts to business objectives with measurable KPIs.
Ask: What do we want to know? What action should data drive?

2. Invest in Smart Technology
Use tools that integrate—cloud platforms, real-time dashboards, and BI tools.
Avoid fragmented systems that can't "talk" to each other.

3. Create a Culture of Data Literacy
Train teams to read, question, and apply data.
Make data transparency a cultural norm.

4. Enforce Data Governance
Define ownership, access rules, and data hygiene protocols to ensure effective management.
Build trust in your data through quality and control.

5. Leverage AI and ML
With clean data, you can uncover trends, automate decisions, and personalize services.
However, remember that insufficient data equals bad AI.

6. Measure, Optimize, Repeat
Track usage, quality, and business impact.
Refine your systems like any other core process.

Culture Shift: The True Engine of a Data-Driven Business

Becoming data-driven isn't about tools—it's about people. Here's how organizations build a data-centric mindset:

Leaders lead with data. Show how decisions are grounded in evidence
Every team has access. Eliminate gatekeeping and silos
Training is constant. Data literacy isn't optional—it's foundational
Celebrate insights. Reward teams who use data to solve problems

✅ When culture aligns with technology, transformation accelerates.

Data Governance: Turning Chaos into Control

Data governance isn't bureaucracy—it's business protection.
Effective governance means:

Defined ownership. Who is responsible for each data set?
Secure access. Role-based permissions protect sensitive info
Compliance. Meet GDPR and local data regulations
Documentation. Know where your data lives and how it's used

✅ Good governance creates the trust and structure required for scaling.

From Lag to Lead: Why Real-Time Data Makes the Difference

Waiting days for monthly reports is no longer viable.
Leaders need data in real time to:

React instantly to market shifts
Predict churn or demand changes
Adjust pricing, supply chain, or staffing on the fly

✅ Live dashboards and connected systems are no longer a luxury—they're a strategic advantage.

Tools of the Trade: What Technologies Power Data-Driven Business?

The right technology stack depends on where your organization stands in its data journey. In Italy, many businesses—especially SMEs—benefit most from solutions that are accessible, integrated, and scalable. Some key categories include:

Data Warehouses & Lakes (e.g., Power BI Dataflows, Snowflake, BigQuery): Ideal for centralizing and organizing large volumes of business data
Business Intelligence Platforms (e.g., Power BI, Qlik Sense, Tableau): Essential for turning raw data into visual insights that support daily decisions
Real-Time Analytics Engines (e.g., Azure Stream Analytics, Elastic Stack, Apache Kafka): Valuable for sectors where immediacy matters—like logistics, manufacturing, or ecommerce
Data Cataloging and Lineage Tools (e.g., Microsoft Purview, Collibra): Help ensure data governance and traceability, especially in regulated industries
AI/ML Toolkits (e.g., Azure ML, KNIME, DataRobot): Enable automation, predictive modeling, and intelligent decision-making, without requiring large data science teams

✅Choose tools that match your maturity, not your ambition. In many cases, starting with simpler, well-integrated platforms delivers more value than complex architectures you're not ready to manage.

Common Pitfalls on the Road to Data Maturity

Avoid these missteps:

Jumping into tech without a strategy. Tools don't create clarity—strategy does
Centralizing too much. Empower departments to self-serve
Neglecting user training. Adoption fails when users are unprepared
Measuring the wrong things. Choose business outcomes over vanity metrics

Interactive Self-Assessment Checklist:

[ ]  Clearly defined data strategy?

[ ]  Regular data literacy training?

[ ]  Implemented real-time analytics?

[ ]  Tracked KPIs aligned with business outcomes?

✅Success comes from integration across tools, teams, and objectives.

Case Examples: Turning Strategy into Action

Global Online Retailer
By unifying customer data and applying AI, this company achieved:

20% higher conversions
15% lift in average order value

Streaming Service
With behavior-based recommendations, they cut churn and boosted engagement:

80% of views are now driven by personalization

Industrial Manufacturing: A Future-Ready Data Blueprint
At Studio Righini, we advise industrial clients who face:

Disconnected production data
Delayed insights from manual reporting
No single view of operations or cost

What we help implement:

IoT-driven real-time data collection
Unified dashboards linking finance, ops, and logistics
Predictive models for production and supply chain planning

Impact potential:

Up to 30% improvement in forecast accuracy
Faster downtime response
Smarter pricing based on real-time cost metrics

✅ This is how we help clients move from complexity to clarity—and from lag to lead.

Key Takeaways

You can't manage what you can't measure. Strategy starts with visibility.
Culture trumps tools. Data-driven decisions require data-literate people.
AI needs structure. Garbage in = garbage out.
Governance is your safety net. Without it, insights become liabilities.

Conclusion

Ultimately, it's not about having more data—it's about utilizing it effectively.

Organizations that succeed in transforming their data into actionable insights, accessible systems, and informed decision-making are the ones that unlock long-term value.

If you're thinking about how to begin—or accelerate—your data journey, the Digital Advisory team at Studio Righini is ready to support you.

Reach out for a tailored data strategy assessment.

And stay tuned for our next issue, where we'll explore how to integrate Artificial Intelligence into your business strategy, cutting through the myths to focus on what works.

Pubblicazioni/Eventi Directory: Digital Advisory Publication Bashar Jabban

Copyright © 2009-2025 Studio Righini
Piazza Cittadella, 13 - 37122 Verona - Italy
Tel. +39 045 596888 - Fax +39 045 596236
Via Monte di Pietà, 19 - 20121 Milano - Italy
Tel +39 02 45472804
p.i. 02475410235

[Privacy and Cookie Policy]