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San Ramon, Calif.- July 26, 2011 – Continued fluctuation in the market coupled with ever changing regulatory requirements has caused explosive growth of information in the banking and financial services industry. New benchmark research from Ventana Research finds that companies that turn to focused business analytics to help them maintain market competitiveness and manage today’s vastly greater information flows, operate more efficiently and make smarter decisions.

For banking and financial services firms, the most important categories of metrics are financial (identified by 68% of participants), cost (59%) and operational (51%). However, these priorities varied by line of business: Financial ranked first among those in Finance or Business, but sales ranked highest among those in marketing and sales areas. Yet across the board in this industry, cost ranked the highest across lines of business and executives were more likely to favor higher-level business metrics, showing that measuring performance across lines of business can provide a better view of the organization as a whole.

The benchmark also examined the specific needs of individuals in the lines of business in these banking and financial services firms. For the volatile world of trading and transactions, search capabilities ranked highest among analytic system requirements, followed closely by the ability to set alerts and thresholds. The ability to explore data through maps and charts was also of high importance to 27 percent of the participants.

This in-depth benchmark research on banking and financial services business analytics, the latest from the leading business technology research firm, analyzed business and IT organizations around the world to assess the maturity and direction of their efforts. Ventana Research undertook this research to acquire real-world information about maturity, trends and best practices in how small and midsized organizations use analytics and key indicators to optimize their business and IT processes and organizations. It explores how they do this now, how teams view the current processes and tools, plans they have to change or improve them, and the benefit they hope to gain by doing so.

The findings offer fresh research-based information on these companies' attitudes toward business analytics. They confirm that business and IT organizations use a variety of analytics, but the data indicates that only about half of banking and financial services companies have automated many of the underlying data integration and analytics operations needed to generate metrics. The research also shows that usability and flexible functionality are important criteria in these organizations’ search for the right analytics, that failing to examine timely availability, broad access and efficient handling can obstruct analytics use.

"Banking and financial services organizations using business analytics have an opportunity to create a competitive edge and operate more efficiently," noted Robert Kugel, SVP of research at Ventana Research. "Driving change to address this opportunity requires a strong business case. Our new benchmark research will provide the path to establish that business case.”

To view the webinar, visit: http://www.ventanaresearch.com/bfsawebinar/

Those interested in learning more about this benchmark research can find additional information at http://www.ventanaresearch.com/bfsa/. As a part of your registration you will receive insights and education from Ventana Research on using technology effectively in business.

About Ventana Research

Ventana Research is the most authoritative and respected benchmark business technology research and advisory services firm. We provide insight and expert guidance on mainstream and disruptive technologies through a unique set of research-based offerings including benchmark research and technology evaluation assessments, education workshops and our research and advisory services, Ventana OnDemand. Our unparalleled understanding of the role of technology in optimizing business processes and performance and our best practices guidance are rooted in our rigorous research-based benchmarking of people, processes, information and technology across business and IT functions in every industry. This benchmark research plus our market coverage and in-depth knowledge of hundreds of technology providers means we can deliver education and expertise to our clients to increase the value they derive from technology investments while reducing time, cost and risk.

Ventana Research provides the most comprehensive analyst and research coverage in the industry; business and IT professionals worldwide are members of our community and benefit from Ventana Research’s insights, as do highly regarded media and association partners around the globe. Our views and analyses are distributed daily through blogs and social media channels including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Business Week’s Business Exchange. 

To learn how Ventana Research advances the maturity of organizations’ use of information and technology through benchmark research, education and advisory services, visit www.ventanaresearch.com.

Media: Copies of benchmark research report and interviews are available upon request.

Media Contact: 

Mendeil Bailey 

(925) 242-2412 

marketing@ventanaresearch.com