Pharma companies need to embrace the value of data in order to boost productivity, according to a new report.
The industry is just one of several that is more concerned with data breaches or legal action that analysing data to extract its value claim PwC and Iron Mountain in their 2014 Information Risk Maturity Index.
Other industries involved in the survey came from the following sectors: legal, financial services, energy, insurance and manufacturing and engineering. The survey included comments from senior managers at 600 European and 600 North American businesses with 250 to 2,500 employees and a further 600 firms across both continents with up to 100,000 employees.
On the positive, the survey noted that companies are aware of the value of information, with around three quarters of the companies surveyed agreeing that information is a business asset. However, just a third of companies employ data analysts to make sense of the data gathered to help guide business strategy.
Regarding UK businesses, around two thirds of firms surveyed use information to enhance product or service innovation, while just one in five use information to increase the speed to market of products.
The study found a clear correlation between firms who are well equipped to manage information risk and those who can extract value from their information.
“No organisation would willingly turn down such an opportunity for competitive advantage, which suggests that the problem lies in not knowing how to achieve it,” said Christian Toon, head of information risk at Iron Mountain.
“It is critical that companies get to grips with this, and adopt a responsible-yet-proactive approach to information risk and value, not just to protect the business, but to let it thrive.”