Make the most of raw data with Business Intelligence
Every company has enormous amounts of data at their fingertips. You likely have detailed information on your customers, products, inventory, manufacturing and more. Given enough time, you could probably compile all that data into one massive report, but your job would still be only half done. The next step would be to analyze the data and make sense of it.
That’s where Business Intelligence (BI) comes in. BI refers to the technologies and strategies that businesses use to analyze data. When referring to technological solutions, a BI product allows a company to take raw data and turn it into something useful for making decisions.
A full Business Intelligence solution can provide insight into every aspect of your company’s business, including:
- Customer behavior
- Employee productivity
- What products are (or aren’t) selling and why
- The success of your sales and marketing campaigns
- The efficiency of your manufacturing process
More than that, a BI solution can turn those insights into actionable information, allowing you to make decisions based on the data that will ultimately help your company succeed.
7 common data management problems and how to solve them
You have all sorts of data at your fingertips, but how are you going to get the information into a usable format before it becomes outdated? If these problems sound familiar to you, then you might want to look into a Business Intelligence solution that can help solve them.
Problem #1: You have data stored in multiple applications.
Like most companies, you probably use multiple applications or programs to run your business. That means you also have data stored in each one, and chances are good that they don’t communicate well together.
Problem #2: You’re (still) drowning in spreadsheets.
Hopefully by now your ERP system has streamlined financial processes and eliminated many of your spreadsheets. However, you still need to connect your financial system to other areas of the business. This might mean that you must resort to multiple spreadsheets once again to extract data from any other source.
Problem #3: You spend too much time compiling information.
With data spread out across multiple sources, collecting it all together takes a lot of time and effort. You might have to rely on your IT department to create custom reports. It can be frustrating to manually pull together all the pieces — and that’s before you can even begin the analysis stage.
Problem #4: The data doesn’t make sense.
Having the data is only half the job. You may have lots of numbers and information, but it’s not very useful if you can’t understand it. Analyzing the data and putting it into a usable format for your company’s decision makers is another momentous task all on its own.
Problem #5: The data is incomplete.
If you feel like you’re flying blind without the entire picture, you’re probably right. Any time you have multiple data sources from which to extract information, you risk missing some important piece of the puzzle.
Problem #6: The data is outdated.
You took the time to compile all the data manually and analyze it the best you can, but now it’s a month later and the data is outdated. Now that you’re ready to make a decision, everything has changed and made your information — and therefore your decision — obsolete. In this fast-paced world, it’s never a good idea to make business decisions based on old information.
Problem #7: You can’t keep up with the competition.
How do your competitors always seem to know which way to turn? What magic answer have they found to help them make the best business decisions? Quite possibly, they have a BI solution to help them make the most of their data.
Top 5 ways a Business Intelligence solution can help you
BI is not just for big businesses anymore. Any company, small or mid-sized, can now afford to take advantage of the tools necessary to make the best business decisions. A BI solution can give you the information you need to:
- Adjust sales and marketing tactics based on customer response
- Eliminate unnecessary costs
- Increase revenue
- Pinpoint areas in need of improvement
- Get an edge over the competition
- Increase employee productivity
- Make goal-oriented decisions
- Get an edge over the competition
Companies that use a full BI solution are better able to analyze trends in the industry and make their decisions accordingly to position themselves in the most strategic spot for the future.
- Make decisions with confidence
It’s easy to move forward with confidence when you are well-informed and know that you’re making the best decisions possible for your company. Having up-to-date, comprehensive information on which to rely makes the decision that much easier.
- Improve customer satisfaction
What’s the best way to improve customer satisfaction? Know what your customers want and give it to them. Knowing what’s working or what needs to be improved is key to creating satisfied customers and making your company more successful.
- Increase productivity
A full Business Intelligence solution can help you pinpoint areas of weakness and improve processes or practices as needed. The result is more productive employees, a higher return on investment and an overall more successful business.
- Achieve goals
Most companies have more than one department, each with their own goals and plans for achieving those goals. If the departments don’t communicate, they may end up working against each other or duplicating work.
Much more than a reporting tool, a Business Intelligence solution can help bring cohesiveness and direction to your entire company. When everyone is aware of and working toward the same overarching goals, their efforts complement each other and the company works as a team to succeed.
If you are interested in learning more about a Business Intelligence/reporting solution, please contact us at 763-412-4300 or email info@boyerassoc.com.