A benefit of specializing in one discipline for almost 30 years is that you learn most of the nuances required to succeed in the space. With the help of many talented data & analytics practitioners, both past and present, we have distilled 30 years of best practices experience into a comprehensive, online benchmark assessment that Eckerson Group launched this month. 

Our Industry Data Benchmarks program is initially geared to the insurance industry, but we will add other industries over time. There is also a generic version for companies in any industry. 

I’m biased, but I think this is the most comprehensive data & analytics assessment ever created. It’s also likely the largest, with 12 categories, 44 subcategories, and 248 questions. But the best part, it’s free, anonymous, and automated. 

You might think, “Who would ever take an assessment that large?” What’s unique about the assessment is that it’s not a survey; it’s a team-based project geared to enterprise data & analytics teams. 

Team-based. Under the direction of an assessment sponsor and coordinator, members of an enterprise data & analytics team work together to answer the questions, either online or manually. A large company with distinct enterprise data & analytics teams may submit multiple assessments.

This approach creates a better instrument for benchmarking and provides teams a collaborative exercise to discuss and examine their approaches to data & analytics. It’s also a great tool for measuring maturity, identifying gaps, and gauging progress towards achieving program goals. 

Every participant receives a secure link to a confidential online report once the team coordinator submits the assessment. The report assigns each company a maturity score and rank and compares it to the aggregate of all companies that have submitted an assessment to that point in time. (See figure 1.) 

Figure 1. Industry Benchmark Report

Page 1 of the online benchmarking report. The second page applies filters to the four charts above.

Participants can return later to see updated scores. They can also filter the report using several parameters (e.g., lines of business, size, region) to compare their scores to a smaller peer group for benchmarking purposes. Individual company results are never disclosed; they are always aggregated into an average score.

“State of the Industry” Report. Once a year, Eckerson Group compiles a snapshot of results and produces a report that summarizes the findings with color commentary from participants. The report lists participating companies but does not disclose individual results. 

Private Benchmark Workshop. To obtain more details, participating companies can sign up for a private benchmark workshop in which Eckerson Group applies custom filters to scored questions, tabulates results for non-scored questions (e.g., budgets, staffing, tooling), and creates custom cohorts for benchmarking. (Again, the results for individual organizations are never disclosed.) 

Benchmark Framework

The benchmark assessment evaluates capabilities in 12 categories, each of which has multiple subcategories. Each subcategory consists of 5 to 7 questions, which are framed as best practice statements or outcomes. For example, “We rotate data analysts and applicable staff through various parts of the business to gain knowledge, skills, and experiences.” Here are the categories:

1. Business and Culture 

2. Operating Model 

3. Development 

4. Data Governance

5. Data Management 

6. Business Intelligence

7. Data Analysis 

8. Data Science 

9. Value

10. Non-Scored Questions (e.g., budget, roles, tools) 

11. Industry Questions 

12. Open-Ended Questions 

View the entire framework along with sample questions here.

Insurance Assessment

The benchmark assessment is currently geared to insurance companies. That means there are about a dozen insurance-specific questions and a few filters that are explicitly geared to insurance companies. For instance, the insurance assessment allows participants to filter the scoring charts by line of insurance: 

• Enterprise - More than one below

• Commercial P&C

• Personal P&C

• Specialty P&C 

• Life & Annuities

• Health

• Reinsurance

• Brokers/Agents

We are fortunate that the Insurance Data Management Association (IDMA) has partnered with us to promote the assessment. The IDMA serves more than 4,000 data and analytics professionals at insurance-related companies. We also have an Insurance Oversight Board comprised of senior data & analytics leaders who have reviewed and endorsed the assessment. Board members are: 

• Marichelle Tanag, Head of Data Management Practice and Controls, AIG

• Peter Bothwell, Managing Director of Data Science, AF Group. Also, the Outgoing President of IDMA

• Srinivasan Sankar, Enterprise Data Leader, The Hanover Insurance Group 

• Sandi Perillo-Simmons, Sr. Director, Enterprise Data Strategy & Governance, Cigna/Evernorth. Also, Executive Committee member, IDMA. 

• Kathleen Maley, President, Maley Analytics

• Christopher Weis, Enterprise Data Engineering, Standard Insurance

• Kurt Thearling, Data Science Expert, Thearling Analytics

Eckerson Group runs the assessment through its service arm, Industry Data Benchmarks. For more information or to take the assessment, visit the Industry Data Benchmarks website or send us an email message.