Data-Driven Digital Business Models: The Key to Long-Term Survival

With almost every industry now impacted by Covid-19, the need for a strong digital component to business has become clear. Take, for instance, the retail industry. Traditional brick and mortar stores, already suffering at the hands of go-to online behemoths and subscription and sharing start-ups, have now been dealt an even bigger blow with doors shuttered for weeks and seasonal inventory sitting still.

Constellation Research reveals that digital leaders, like those in the retail industry, aren’t just creating a digital divide—they’ve set the stage for a winner-take-all market. Overall, digital leaders are now taking up to 69.8% of market share, and in profits, they lead with 77.1%. "Using data-driven business models, digital leaders are able to create an unfair advantage, and it’s happening in every single market and every single industry," says Constellation founder and Disrupting Digital Business author Ray Wang. And with Covid-19, this unfair advantage is only accelerated and exacerbated.

In The Future of Data in Digital Transformation, the analyst and author says if your organization hasn't made the shift to a data-driven digital business model, you’re running out of time. "If you're not making the shift—if you’re not even moving in that direction—you're probably going to be merged, be acquired, or go bankrupt," warns Wang.

Now more than ever, "organizations have to figure out what is their data strategy, how they're going to build data-driven business models—and more importantly, how much they're going to invest in the talent that's required to help them make better decisions." According to MicroStrategy’s 2020 Global State of Enterprise Analytics Report which surveyed 500 analytics and business intelligence decision makers from around the world, 45% of organizations are now leveraging analytics to develop new business models, and 65% say they plan to invest more in talent with data and analytics skills this year.

In a similar survey of more than 500 analytics and business intelligence professionals, 68% say their brand’s analytics use has increased due to the impact of Covid-19. This aligns with a recent OpsRamp survey that reveals 73% of IT operations and DevOps teams expect to either accelerate or maintain their organization’s digital transformation spending due to the pandemic.

Tricia Morris is Director Social Media & Content Marketing at MicroStrategy.