Has Covid-19 pushed digital in Italy? A cliché with many, too many exceptions. This has not been the case in companies, in general, but the good news is that already in 2021 there are positive signs. This can be seen in the most promising digital environment for the future of business, the use of Big data, as can be seen from the Big Data & Business Analytics Observatory of the Politecnico di Milano.
The recovery after the pandemic
«The health emergency has slowed down the choices of companies in the field of data management and analysis. The 2020 data were lower than expected last November: € 1.78 billion (+ 4% compared to 2019), against an estimated value of € 1.815 billion “, reads. “However, in 2021 there is a marked growth – says Carlo Vercellis, scientific director of the Observatory -. Spending by Italian companies on data management and analysis solutions and services grew by 13%, exceeding 2 billion euros. The number of companies that have started trials in this area is increasing advanced analytics».
Attention, “however, we cannot say that the gap between companies that are already well advanced in data enhancement and those at the beginning of the journey has been filled”. It even highlights a digital divide worrying, given that the latecomers “have lost further ground due to the pandemic,” adds Vercellis.
Business investments
In detail, software spending is confirmed as the most relevant area in terms of absolute growth (+ 17%). The platforms of data governance and the platforms of data science & TO THE. The solutions of data visualization e reporting. Public cloud services are becoming more and more popular. Over a fifth of investments in analytics takes place through services of public & hybrid cloud. A figure that is 21% higher than the previous year. Insurance, manufacturing and the telco & media sector are the sectors that are growing more than average. In line with the market or with slightly lower growth rates, there are utilities, the banking world, the large-scale distribution / retail sector, the public administration / healthcare sector and finally services.
The (difficult) path of innovation
Almost four out of ten companies show widespread immaturity in data management and today respond, through the IT function and with inefficient tools, only to traditional needs of data integrity and security. The remaining organizations are moving, adopting new technologies or identifying figures of responsibility in this area. In terms of innovation, the most interesting sign is that in 2021 the number of companies that start working with advanced analytics. Artificial intelligence tools which, by analyzing the historical data and finding correlations between them, are able to predict the future and give operational advice to the business. Four out of ten companies declare that they have operational projects at least in some corporate functions, even if in most cases the diffusion is limited to some areas. 62% of small and medium-sized enterprises now carry out descriptive analyzes, but the start of experiments in the field advanced analytics remains the prerogative of a small minority: 14%.