The State of Data Governance

In 2024, our research at Dresner Advisory Services revealed that only 32% of organizations have a formal data governance organization in place. This statistic highlights a critical gap, especially as machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly integrated into operations, expanding business reliance on data and analytic content. Despite the growing importance of data products, few organizations approach governance with the deliberate, comprehensive strategies required to unlock their full potential.  Without question, the capability to maximize the value of organizational data, analytics, and ML/AI assets while mitigating associated risks depends upon robust governance practices. Moreover, the absence of a data governance framework has tangible consequences — 68% of organizations report challenges in finding reliable data and analytic content. The paradox is striking as businesses increasingly depend on data-driven decision-making; their success hinges on high-quality, trustworthy data and analytics. Without strong governance, this dependency risks becoming a significant liability. 

Inside AI’s Future: A Q&A on the Tech That Will Change Everything

GenAI is poised to transform business operations and value creation, rivaling previous disruptive innovations like cloud computing and mobile technology. According to McKinsey (via the book “Rewired”), GenAI holds the potential to accelerate and redefine processes across industries by automating creativity, enhancing decision making and optimizing workflows. While AI lacks genuine understanding, it excels in processing vast amounts of data, drawing insights and offering suggestions by applying established advanced mathematical techniques, such as vector analysis and cosine similarity. To explore the state of GenAI, I spoke recently with Brian Lett, research director at Dresner Advisory Services. Lett emphasized that GenAI is still in its initial stages, with businesses experimenting to uncover practical use cases and measurable ROI. He also highlighted a growing interest in GenAI applications, particularly for content generation, customer engagement and decision support.

Dresner Advisory Services Publishes 2025 Analytical Data Infrastructure Market Study

Dresner Advisory Services today published the 9th Edition Analytical Data Infrastructure Market Study, part of its Wisdom of Crowds® series of research. Analytical data infrastructure (ADI) defines a set of technology components for integrating, modeling, managing, storing, governing, and accessing data sets that serve as sources for analytic/business intelligence (BI) applications, tools, and users.   The study examines market preferences and priorities for ADI platforms including deployment and licensing priorities, data types, data model / management of data associated with ADI, data preparation and loading priorities, preferences in ADI development and deployment features, as well as ADI interfaces and analytical features.

Why 90% of Companies Are Rethinking Cloud Strategies in 2025

In “Designed for Digital,” authors Jeanne W. Ross, Cynthia M. Beath and Martin Mocker highlight how digital technologies — analytics, IoT and cloud computing — are driving ubiquitous data, limitless connectivity and vast processing power, fueling today’s AI solutions. At Dresner Advisory Services, our research underscores that reliability, access and availability rank as the top priorities for organizations leveraging cloud solutions to deliver on the AI future. Closely following in importance are scalability and ease of use, with factors like administration and implementation time rounding out critical considerations.

Dresner Advisory Services Publishes 2024 Embedded Business Intelligence Market Study

Dresner Advisory Services published the 2024 Embedded Business Intelligence Market Study, part of its Wisdom of Crowds(R) series of research. The 12th annual study examines end user trends in embedded business intelligence (BI), the technological capability to include BI features and functions as an inherent part of another application.   The 2024 Embedded Business Intelligence Market Study assesses the importance and adoption of embedded BI, architecture and feature requirements, and targeted applications. According to the study, interest in embedded BI varies but stands at a consistently high level across all functions and roles. Importance is highest in the sales and marketing, BI/analytics competency center, and executive management functions.

Dresner Advisory Services Publishes 2024 Analytical Platforms Market Study

Dresner Advisory Services published the 2024 Analytical Platforms Market Study, part of its Wisdom of Crowds(R) series of research. The study examines interest in and demand for Analytical Platforms, integrated technology environments that include all functionality to support multiple analytical or business intelligence (BI) use cases, including data engineering, data catalog, self-service BI, AI/data science/ machine learning, embedded BI or analytics, and cloud support.   The 4th edition study considers the requirement on the part of many organizations to have a critical mass of core analytical and BI functionality in a single-vendor technology platform. Findings show that the 55 percent of users prefers single vendor integrated platforms versus the 45 percent that favor best-of-breed (build your own) platforms.

Dresner Advisory Services Publishes 2024 Sales Performance Management Market Study

Dresner Advisory Services published the 2024 Sales Performance Management Market Study, part of its Wisdom of Crowds® series of research. Sales performance management (SPM) enables the sales organization to develop plans and manage and analyze performance for staffing, revenue, and territories, among other areas. SPM includes sales planning and sales analytics.   Dresner Advisory’s 7th annual report examines end user behaviors around SPM adoption, budgets, and overall success, analyzed by organization size, geography, and other attributes. The report scores the importance of the main areas of SPM including features, integrations, and technologies, as reported by end user respondents.   According to the report, adoption of SPM is highest in sales, finance, and marketing with broader functional broader functional adoption growing over the past several years. Rolling sales forecasts, account segmentation and scoring, and predictive sales forecasting are the top three SPM features.

Dresner Advisory Services Publishes 2024 Financial Consolidation, Close Management, and Financial Reporting Market Study

Dresner Advisory Services today published the 2024 Financial Consolidation, Close Management, and Financial Reporting Market Study, part of the Wisdom of Crowds® series of research. Financial consolidation systems combine and aggregate financial data from multiple operating entities to produce an overall consolidated financial view of the group's operations.   The 2024 study examines current usage, priorities, and objectives and includes a new analysis of why organizations implement FCCR software, thus helping data leaders understand how these solutions are a vital component of a BI and analytics strategy.   The study shows an increase in FCCR adoption among younger organizations, and priority ratings by younger organizations increased across all aspects of FCCR, an indication that younger organizations are leveraging FCCR to help manage growth.   Providing a single "version of the truth" for finance data is the most important objective for deploying FCCR software among organizations, regardless of geography, size, age, or industry.   The company published two companion reports – covering Financial Reporting, and Financial Close Management. Financial reporting solutions enable users to analyze financial actual and budget data on an ad hoc basis to monitor and track financial activity, for example to identify suspect movements on certain accounts.

Dresner Advisory Services Publishes 2024 Small and Midsize Enterprise Business Intelligence, and Enterprise Performance Management Market Studies

Dresner Advisory Services today published the 2024 Small and Midsize Enterprise Business Intelligence Market Study and Small and Midsize Enterprise Performance Management Market Study, part of Dresner Advisory’s Wisdom of Crowds® series of research. The annual reports examine business intelligence (BI) and enterprise performance management (EPM) usage and trends within small and midsize organizations (SMEs). The studies provide a detailed analysis of how their deployments and views differ from each other and from large organizations.

Dresner Advisory Publishes 2024 ModelOps, AI, Data Science, and Machine Learning Research

Current deployment of AI, Data Science, and Machine Learning use cases remains limited but diverse, with strong expectations of future growth, according to the 2024 AI, Data Science, and Machine Learning Market Study, part of the Dresner Advisory Wisdom of Crowds® series of research.  AI, data science, and machine learning (AI/DS/ML) includes statistics, modeling, machine learning, neural networks, and data mining to analyze facts to make predictions about future or otherwise unknown events. Key use cases of customer segmentation, demand forecasting, and customer lifetime value are areas with significant potential. "Our 11th annual AI/DS/ML report reflects the growing significance of these technologies as organizations seek to enhance operations, improve forecasting, and drive innovation," said Howard Dresner, founder and chief research officer at Dresner Advisory. "A notable trend is the rapid expansion of generative AI. Organizations are increasingly incorporating generative AI into their operations, with a marked rise in production use, experimental applications, and planned adoption over the next 12 months."

Dresner Advisory Services Announces 2024 Industry Excellence Awards

Dresner Advisory Services today named its 2024 Industry Excellence Awards winners, acknowledging vendors who achieved leadership in the company's 2024 Wisdom of Crowds® Analytical Data Infrastructure (ADI), Business Intelligence (BI), or Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) Market Studies. The studies are based on data collected from end users and provide a broad assessment of current usage, key drivers, technology priorities, and intentions. They include performance ratings of relevant vendors based on the Dresner Advisory trademark 33-measure system. The winners have achieved leadership status in two industry-rating models. The Customer Experience model considers the real-world experience of customers as they work with a vendor's technology solution on a daily basis, plotting various customer touch points against sentiment surrounding product and technology. The Vendor Credibility Model considers a vendor's relationship with customers, plotting perceived value for price paid against a calculated "confidence" score.

Dresner Advisory Services Publishes 2024 Master Data Management Market Study

Dresner Advisory Services today published the 2024 Master Data Management Market Study, part of its Wisdom of Crowds® series of research. Master data management (MDM) is a technology-enabled discipline in which business and information technology (IT) collaborate to ensure the uniformity, accuracy, stewardship, semantic consistency, and accountability of an enterprise's official shared master data assets. The Master Data Management Market Study analyzes current MDM perceptions, use, and intentions and provides valuable insight on crucial aspects of MDM, including deployment options, the number of domains managed, MDM assessments, and the support of artificial intelligence and machine learning. In 2024, MDM ranks 20th among the 63 strategic business intelligence (BI) technologies and initiatives under study, maintaining relative priority with data governance (15th) and data catalog (17th), technologies strongly associated with MDM. "Since our initial research on MDM in 2022, the reported importance of MDM continues to be reflected across various industries, functions, organization sizes, BI budget plans, and other dimensions," said Michael Moran, Research Director at Dresner Advisory. "Again, this year we observe a high correlation between the importance of MDM and measures of BI success, notably data leadership, success with BI, and data literacy."

Dresner Advisory Services Publishes Environmental, Social, and Governance Reporting Market Study, Highlights Significant Developments

Twenty-three percent of organizations are producing Environmental, Social, and Governance reports today, with adoption higher in EMEA and within large and very large organizations, according to the Dresner Advisory Services 2024 Wisdom of Crowds® Environmental, Social, and Governance Reporting Market Study. Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting attempts to capture in a structured way the potential impacts that environmental and social factors may have on the financial sustainability of an organization. It includes the data, tools, processes, and standards used in preparing non-financial reports that reflect an organization's impact on the planet and people both inside and outside the organization, and its approach to running and governing the organization.

Adoption of Enterprise Performance Management Continues Upward Trend in 2024

Usage of enterprise performance management increased to 71 percent in 2024, up from 62 percent in 2023, according to the Dresner Advisory Services 2024 Wisdom of Crowds® Enterprise Performance Management Market Study. The Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) Market Study, now in its 10th edition, is Dresner's broad assessment of the market, providing a comprehensive look at key user behaviors, attitudes, and intentions and comparing the findings to previous years. The report examines overall importance of EPM, adoption trends, implementation and sourcing strategies, planning priorities, and rolling forecasts. It includes an analysis of success with EPM, sourcing preferences, cloud deployments, as well as the impact of, and use cases for, artificial intelligence (AI).

Dresner Advisory Publishes 2024 Data and Analytics Governance Market Study

Dresner Advisory Services today published the 2024 Data and Analytics Governance Market Study, part of the Wisdom of Crowds® series of research. Data and analytics governance provides formal oversight of data and analytic content management and its usage across the enterprise and beyond. The 2024 Data and Analytics Governance Study Report analyzes end user behaviors and intentions around the relative importance of governance in technologies and initiatives, the difficulty in finding data and analytic content, and organization and practices related to data and analytic governance.

Better Decision Making and Growth in Revenue Remain Top Objectives for Business Intelligence Initiatives

Dresner Advisory Services Publishes 15th Annual Wisdom of Crowds Business Intelligence Market Study - Executives remain the most likely primary targeted users of business intelligence and demonstrate a strong alignment of business goals and results, according to the Dresner Advisory Services 2024 Wisdom of Crowds® Business Intelligence Market Study. The Business Intelligence (BI) Market Study is the cornerstone of Dresner Advisory's annual research agenda, providing a broad assessment of the BI and analytics market and an all-encompassing look at key user trends, attitudes, and intentions.

Dresner Advisory Services Releases New Comparative Analysis on Databricks and Snowflake

Dresner Advisory Services, LLC, a leading source of industry research and analysis, has today announced the publication of its latest special report titled "Databricks versus Snowflake – 2024 Edition." This report provides a detailed, unbiased comparison of two major players in the cloud-based analytical data services industry, offering valuable insights into their competitive dynamics, strengths, and customer satisfaction levels.   As organizations continue to navigate the complexities of digital transformation, the need for comprehensive multi-cloud capabilities becomes more apparent. Databricks and Snowflake, both prominent figures in this space, cater to these demands with their unique products and technological approaches.

Dresner Advisory Publishes 2024 Self-Service Business Intelligence Market Study

Dresner Advisory Services today published the 2024 Self-Service Business Intelligence Market Study, part of its Wisdom of Crowds® series of research.  The report examines end user perception and trends around self-service business intelligence (BI).   Self-service BI builds upon governance, data storytelling, collaborative support, generative AI, and natural language analytics to create an environment where users can easily create and share insights in a managed and consistent fashion.   In 2024, end-user self-service ranks 13th of 63 technologies and initiatives strategic to business intelligence, and fifty-five percent of respondents say self-service BI is critical or very important.

Dresner Advisory Services Publishes Active Data Architecture Market Study

Dresner Advisory Services today launched a new report in its Wisdom of Crowds® series of research. The 2024 Active Data Architecture™ Market Study explores market requirements and priorities for data orchestration, integration, and transformations in the active data architecture pipeline workflow.   Active Data Architecture™ supports a platform-independent layer that sits between physical data stores and points of data consumption. It is comprised of various data management capabilities including virtualized and distributed data access (e.g., mesh, fabric), data governance, and security. At its core, Active Data Architecture is an abstraction layer translating business and physical structures. It is an architecture dynamically optimized for performance, scalability, and cost management.

2024 Cloud Computing and Business Intelligence Market Study Available from Dresner Advisory

Dresner Advisory Services today published the 2024 Cloud Computing and Business Intelligence Market Study, part of its Wisdom of Crowds® series of research. Cloud business intelligence is the technologies, tools, and solutions that employ one or more cloud deployment models.   Reliability, access and availability, scalability, and ease of use are perceived as the most important advantages of cloud. Cloud and software as a service rank 7th in importance of the 63 topics under study, near an all-time level of user importance. Over time, cloud/SaaS is a consistent top priority that overlaps with most topics on the list. Importance is strongest in the technology, healthcare, and financial services industries.

Dresner Advisory Services Publishes 2024 Supply Chain Planning and Analysis Market Study

Dresner Advisory Services today published the 2024 Supply Chain Planning and Analysis Market Study, part of its Wisdom of Crowds series of research. The Supply Chain Planning and Analysis Market Study examines market requirements and priorities, providing an analysis of the current usage and future intentions of end user organizations.   Supply chain planning is the process of planning a product from raw material through distribution and sales, with the goal of balancing supply and demand. Supply chain analytics enables organizations to develop valuable insights associated with the procurement, processing, and distribution of goods.

Dresner Advisory Services Publishes 2024 Data Engineering Market Study

Dresner Advisory Services today published the 2024 Data Engineering Market Study, part of its Wisdom of Crowds series of research. Data Engineering includes best practices and technology capabilities to develop engineered data workflows and pipelines to and between operational and analytic data management infrastructures.   Data engineering development and deployment capabilities are used to develop, debug, schedule, secure, govern, and run data workflows for business intelligence (BI) / analytic use cases. Deployments may range from small use-case specific projects to those that span large data volumes, multiple analytic steps, and multiple analytic models, and support multiple BI use cases and tools.

Dresner Advisory Services Publishes 2024 Workforce Planning and Analysis Market Study

Dresner Advisory Services today published the 2024 Workforce Planning and Analysis Market Study, part of its Wisdom of Crowds series of research.   Workforce planning and analysis is a category of tools and processes that help align workforces with business goals, strategies, and workplace dynamics. It includes requirements, analysis, and forecasting for current and future needs and the development of plans to address imbalances to optimize human resources, reduce costs, and improve efficiency.   “Our study underscores the expanding role of performance management across various business functions beyond the traditional scope of finance,” said Howard Dresner, founder and chief research officer at Dresner Advisory. “Facing an array of external challenges, organizations are looking for a more holistic approach to performance management to respond adaptively, make informed decisions, and execute strategies with precision.”   The study shows that 46 percent of respondents use workforce planning and analysis today, with another 24 percent indicating plans to adopt workforce planning in the next 12 months. The human resources function is the most likely primary user, followed by finance and operations.

Dresner Advisory Services Announces 2023 Technology Innovation Awards

Dresner Advisory Services today announced the winners of its 2023 Technology Innovation Awards, presented annually to top ranked vendors in its Wisdom of Crowds thematic market studies.

Dresner Advisory Services Publishes 2024 Generative AI Report

Dresner Advisory Services today published the 2024 Generative AI Report, part of its Wisdom of Crowds® series of research. Generative artificial intelligence (also generative AI or Generative AI) is artificial intelligence capable of generating text, images, or other media, using generative models. Generative AI models learn the patterns and structure of their input training data and then generate new data that has similar characteristics.   “The generative AI phenomenon has captured the attention of the market—and world—with both positive and negative connotations,” said Howard Dresner, founder and chief research officer at Dresner Advisory. “While generative AI adoption remains nascent in the near term, a strong majority of respondents indicate intentions to adopt it early or in the future.”   According to the report, generative AI shows considerable relevance, importance, and interest—followed at least regularly or more often by 72 percent of respondents. Organizations most often cite increased productivity/efficiency, improved customer experience and personalization, and improved decision making as the top drivers to adoption of generative AI.