Financial firms struggle to connect their data across their organization, from the front office through the middle and back office, according to the Connected Data survey from Refinitiv.

The survey shows that there are clear cultural reasons why this is the case: Front offices are seen as the part of the business that generates revenue and are the most innovative, while the middle and back offices focus on efficiency, and are viewed as cost centers.

Middle and back offices are considered to be less innovative and to return a lower ROI for data and data management investment.

These attitudes and beliefs are culturally damaging for financial services firms – data is now the oil that fuels the motor of their business models, and so the front, middle and back offices need to learn to see each other as equal stakeholders, and to be more collaborative around data and data management.

From symbology to data lineage and data quality, firms need to come together to embrace data governance and cloud computing through changes to both their technology and culture.

The shift to a more collaborative approach will be aided by the recent trend towards hiring a Chief Data Officer, helping to create a more central approach to market and reference data strategies.

It will also be strengthened by the embedding of data governance and cloud computing, both of which intrinsically support increased collaboration across the front, middle and back office.

We are interested in discussing the results of this survey, and how Refinitiv can help your organization connect data across the front, middle and back office as we meet up in the months ahead.

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