APAC Firms Spending Significantly More on Integrating Data

More than one in three (37%) Asia-Pacific (APAC) organizations say that their budget for integrating data had increased significantly over the past three years, according to a new research study commissioned by Snowflake.

The “Data Evolution in the Cloud” global survey was conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit and sponsored by Snowflake. This saw feedback from a total of 914 executives around the world, with 219 hailing from APAC – specifically Australia, China, India, and Japan.

It is worth noting that 40% of respondents cited the lack of investments in infrastructure and data systems as a top challenge to data collection. But despite this lack of investments, APAC firms rated themselves well – stronger than the global average – in terms of self-reported organizational performance such as their ability to deal with data-related regulations and the ability to draw insights from data.

Flourishing data marketplace

The study also found a flourishing data marketplace in APAC with firms here engaging strongly with their peers in data commerce. Indeed, they are buying, selling, and sharing data to a greater extent than elsewhere, noted the report, mostly from third-party or syndicated data vendors.

“This is a trend worth watching, as such vendors can pose challenges with regards to consumer privacy and regulatory compliance, even as they open up potential opportunities with analytics and artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) development that might not be possible otherwise,” noted the report.

Additional key insights include:

• APAC respondents are more likely to select “third-party/ syndicated data vendors” as their most useful source of data, with 54% making this statement, compared with 42% globally.
• Forty-five percent of APAC respondents are more likely than the global average of 38% to say they use AI/ML to a significant extent for developing products or services.
• Forty-seven percent of respondents indicated that data-privacy regulations are the top challenge to organizations’ ability to collect data, although to a lesser extent than the global average at 56%.

“Data analytics challenges such as data regulation and budget issues are not likely to derail Asia-Pacific’s overall data evolution, as firms in the region are looking to advance their already-leading global positions in the realms of data exchange, development, and investment,” said Geoff Soon, Snowflake’s Managing Director for South Asia.

According to Soon, the research survey suggests that APAC businesses want to use AI/ML beyond developing products or services and organizations should continue to innovate in terms of data sharing and adopting automation technology.

With data sharing and automation in place, organizations can then accurately make data-based decisions and improve operational automation, giving them a competitive edge in the long run, he noted.

The report can be accessed here (free registration).

Image credit: iStockphoto/Tinnakorn Jorruang