What is Data Literacy and why should your business care?

In today’s data driven world, organisations sit on vast amounts of information, but how many people actually know how to use it effectively? The answer lies in data literacy, a skillset that is fast becoming a must have, rather than a nice to have.

Saying that, many businesses still struggle with leveraging their data to its full potential because non data teams lack the confidence, the tools, or the access that’s needed in order to interpret data, analyse it confidently and then, not only turn that into insight, but actionable insight. Many business functions that rely on data-driven decision making just don’t have the skillset, or the time to skill-up. They just need to know what they need to know, right here, right now.

And as for data teams? They’re often bogged down by repetitive requests, acting as gatekeepers of information, instead of strategic enablers.

So, what exactly is data literacy, why does it matter, and how can organisations bridge the gap? 

What is data literacy?

In fundamental terms, data literacy is the ability to read, understand, analyse and communicate with data.

It’s not about being a data scientist or writing complex Structured Query Language (SQL) queries. It’s about being able to interpret numbers, ask the right questions and use data to make informed decisions. Data literacy empowers everyone, not just data teams to use information effectively.

Typically, a data literate person can:

• Understand what data represents and where it comes from
• Identify trends and insights in dashboards, reports, and spreadsheets
• Ask the right questions to extract relevant, actionable information
• Apply data to solve business challenges, from marketing campaigns to operational efficiencies

Why is data literacy important?

Without data literacy, organisations struggle to make the right decisions, costing them time, money and competitive advantage. Here’s why data literacy matters at every level of your business:

For leadership & strategy teams, Executives need to trust data driven decisions instead of relying on gut instinct. Data literacy enables faster, more informed strategic moves, whether it's market expansion, investment choices or risk assessment. 

For data teams, BI analysts, data engineers and CIOs want to move beyond repetitive report building and focus on high value analytics. A data literate organisation means fewer basic requests and more empowered teams making their own data driven decisions. Everyone wins. 

For Marketing, Sales & Operations - from campaign performance to sales forecasting, teams need instant insights, not endless back and forth with data teams. Data literacy helps non technical users ask the right questions and access the right answers quickly.

For everyone else... HR, finance, and customer services; every department in between that generates and interacts with data. If they can interpret insights effectively, they can work more efficiently and drive even better outcomes.

So what’s the bottom line? If your organisation lacks data literacy, you’re definitely leaving money on the table.

The data literacy challenge: why do businesses struggle?

Despite its importance, only 11% of employees today feel fully data literate. 

Why?

Data is too complex
Many non technical teams feel overwhelmed by raw data, reports and dashboards that don’t make sense to them.

BI tools are not built for everyone
Traditional BI platforms like Power BI and Tableau are powerful, but they require training and technical know-how, leaving many employees unable to extract insights independently. This also means that a lot of organisations have lots of expensive licenses going unused. 

There’s a gap between data & non-data teams
Data teams become overwhelmed with ad hoc report requests, while business users struggle to find the insights they need without technical help.

Without an accessible and intuitive way to interact with data, businesses remain stuck with insights trapped in silos and decision making slowed down.

How Configur bridges the data literacy gap

Configur was built to make data accessible for everyone - without the complexity. Here’s how we help organisations improve data literacy and make faster, more confident decisions:

Conversational AI: Ask data questions in plain English
Configur’s AI powered chatbot, Abi, lets anyone interact with data using natural language, so even non-technical teams can get instant, real-time insights without needing a BI analyst.

Simplified visualisation & dashboards
Instead of overwhelming users with complex BI tools, Configur provides customisable dashboards that show exactly what each team needs, no unnecessary noise, just the actionable insights you’re after.

Seamless data consolidation
Configur integrates all your data sources, from internal reports to purchased third party data, so everyone in your organisation is working from the same single source of truth.

Managed onboarding & data cleansing
We don’t just give you a tool; we help you set it up, cleanse your data and configure everything to ensure you get to insights faster than you would with an out-of-the-box SaaS platform. 

By making data literacy a priority, organisations don’t just improve efficiency, they unlock new opportunities, better decision making and a stronger competitive edge. With Configur, your teams get to the insights they rely on to do their jobs, without the barriers.

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Find out more about how Configur could help you bridge the gap. Drop us a line. 

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