The digital transformation of production and business processes has put data at the forefront of the digitization cycle.
The information systems of organizations have accumulated enormous amounts of data. Now is the best time to take advantage of these systems and obtain information that optimizes decision-making. Understanding what to do with data is the priority.
3 phases of a data project
Aligning your business goals with your business strategy will determine the scope of the three phases of your data project; broadly, these may include the following:
- Generation and capture: Identifying what data is available and where it is scattered. With this information you will know what business technology solutions you must implement to centralize data, treat them, drive the digital generation of new data, and continue capturing much more in real-time.
- Modeling: Now is the time to analyze, transform, and structure the captured data, shape and convert it into useful information that can be shared and to which everyone in the organization has access.
- Exploitation: Once the data is structured, the time has come to process it to maximize its potential.
Data Exploitation
The ultimate goal of data exploitation and a common point for all organizations undoubtedly is continuous improvement. The following are three ways to exploit data to achieve it:
- Identify deviations, real-time
Exploiting data with the help of dashboards show the end-user the organization’s KPIs. However, this user must now analyze the data linked to KPIs to draw certain conclusions. Thus, data exploitation takes us one step further (or a step closer to our objective). To achieve this, it is critical to consider data as proactive, i.e., as if it can speak for itself when it is enhanced using emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data. In other words, intelligent models that help detect deviations can and will be built.
Continuous analysis of groups of data will make it possible to identify common and persistent patterns over time and indicate when something is wrong. Thus, one can go beyond the information offered by a predefined KPI and be warned of abnormal behavior. This is an excellent way to discover hidden problems or bottlenecks.
- Self-learning
Combining data analysis with machine learning components makes it possible to create reliable predictive models concerning production parameters, which can help optimize an organization’s business plan.
The feedback and learning from these predictive models will help predict errors, deviations, or disruptions in business processes.
- Dashboards
This is the most widely used mode of data exploitation. Its main benefit to business management is that it shows the end-user the information that helps them determine if the procedures under their responsibility are working correctly or not.
That being said, a helpful dashboard that produces effective results must have its content aligned with the user’s objectives, as it was created for assessing these goals in the first place.
This is the best way to avoid excess information and work with specific data that facilitates decision-making for that user.On the other hand, dashboards must also be consistent with one’s business objectives so that they can indicate the status and evolution, in a given period, of specific as well as representative KPIs.
This management tool must be simple and have such high visibility that it can generate a picture of an organization’s real-time processes. Your business goals will define whether you need one, two, or more scorecards.
Exploitation and Data Science
As mentioned before, data exploitation, as part of data science, facilitates intelligent decision-making and allows the formulation of effective company strategies in the short, medium, and long term.
It is critical to maintaining the systematic use of data science under Business Intelligence (BI) or Business Analytics (BA). Both terms sound similar and can be confusing; however, there is a significant difference between them.
BI is the analysis of captured data. So i.e., if your supply chain is looking to improve internal operations, uncover process failures, and identify potential indicators, a BI solution is the best.
But suppose you are looking to predict the future behavior of your organization, establish trends, and find out why things happen. In that case, a BA solution should be included in your business strategy. That way, you can solve problems even before they crop up!
In summary, with both models, visual dashboards are collected, analyzed, and generated; it simply changes the direction of data analysis to make different kinds of decisions in the organization.
Business Intelligence or Business Analytics: which is better?
Choosing between BI and BA does not always have to be difficult or lengthy. Whether it’s so demanding or not would depend on your business plans. Ask yourself specific questions about your business as follows:
- What do you need to solve?
- Who will use the tool?
- How much visibility do you require in the process?
- Are you more interested in understanding why your business is, rather than where your company should be heading?
- What has more value? Find out who your top 20 customers were last year or who your top 20 customers will be next year.
Data analysis has ceased being an option; it has now become a «must-do» for every organization. Businesses that don’t adapt to the new way of valuing and harnessing data will disappear.
At CeleriTech, we are entirely aware of this reality. So, we have created tools for you to decide your organization’s destiny based on relevant data. With help from Keenlog Analytics and Keenlog Predictive, you can use your data. In running your business thus, you can act and react faster, make informed choices in real-time, and drive profitable growth.
Our +16 years of experience in the industry as a provider of business technology solutions has equipped us well to work hand-in-hand with your organization and help you make intelligent decisions based on your most valuable asset: Data. A free DEMO of our tools is available to you today.
