Australian organisations may be missing out on opportunities to improve their business decision-making by not considering to hire a data scientist. The recent Teradata Data Analysis Index revealed that 88 per cent of companies use analytics to make decisions based on data but nearly the same percentage (86 per cent) have no plans to hire a data scientist.

Alec Gardner, general manager, ANZ, Teradata, said, “The results suggest these organisations either already have a data scientist, which is unlikely, or they don’t understand the benefits a data scientist could bring to the business.

“Data scientists can play a vital role in the success of an organisation because of their ability to identify business problems, identify the right data to help solve a problem and communicate the solution back to the executive team.”

The Teradata Index found that 97 per cent of organisations gather data from internal systems, 80 per cent gather online data and 74 per cent gather third-party data.

Alec Gardner said, “It’s clear that most organisations have access to a broad range of information. The survey results show that companies are mostly analysing this data to improve the overall customer experience. More than three-quarters (76 per cent) of respondents are looking to reduce customer service issue and complaints, and 53 per cent aim to improve customer loyalty and optimise the mix of marketing initiatives.”

Alec Gardner said, “Organisations that consider appointing a data scientist or a team of data analysts may find that they can derive much deeper and more varied insights from their data. This will let them recommend improvements in areas of the business such as supply chain and logistics, product or service development, or customer acquisition.

“Employing a data scientist could help organisations achieve a higher return on their investment in data collection.”