Why is the uptake of Analytics so slow?

In business, there is no shortage of organizations that are perfectly capable of running well; but the more I look at the use of Analytics in industry, the more that I see either a small smattering of use here and there, or even a complete lack of data-based decision making and management. Even in the largest companies, an appreciation for the use of Analytics is quite rare to find. The use of Analytics is not new by any means, but still, very few companies are able to use it to drive their business objectives forward. Why is this happening? Is Analytics really the next big thing for organizations, or is it just another buzzword for consultants to throw around to weasel companies out of their hard-earned cash?

I believe there are many factors that contribute to this slow growth of Analytics, including:

• General lack of understanding and misconceptions of what Analytics is and what it can do;
• Hesitance of business owners to trust something they don't understand;
• Steep learning curve when understanding Analytics;
• Lack of available resources to educate people on, and harness, the power of Analytics;
• Lack of concrete examples of how Analytics was used to gain a competitive advantage;

Of these, it seems to me that it is the steep learning curve related to becoming proficient in Analytics that poses the biggest stumbling block - in fact, it might be considered the root cause of all the other factors mentioned above. Everybody will probably agree that most people found math one of the most challenging subjects when they went to school, and I believe that that fear of "deep number sciences" like statistics causes most people's eyes to just glaze over. If we want Analytics to succeed at bringing improvements in the business environment, we have to be able to get over this obstacle, and be able to help others (both data consumers and business owners alike) to gain that appreciation for Analytics in a painless and efficient way.

What do you think? Do you see other reasons why the adoption of Analytics in industry is so painful? Let us know in the comments below.