The supply chain was rated as the number one challenge for companies – and also the most likely to receive increased investment (42 percent) this year, followed by investments in data analytics (28 percent) and digital strategy (28 percent). And 56 percent of the respondents cited data analytics as being important to their firm’s strategy, making it the highest-ranked strategic area in the survey, followed by data security (47 percent).
“While data analytics may be at the top of the corporate agenda, the challenge that should really be keeping companies awake at night is data security,” said Willy Kruh, global chair, consumer markets KPMG International. “Companies are still a long way from where they need to be in terms of protecting their client and proprietary information from security breaches. Hackers will always be one step ahead, and companies need to ensure they are not overconfident in their ability to protect themselves.”
