Getting Your Business Back To Full Strength With Business Intelligence
By Jason Betteridge, the Managing Director of Circyl
As the UK economy emerges from the global pandemic, facilities managers face a tough time ahead, as they try to get their business back up and running amid the ongoing uncertainty.
To help speed up recovery, businesses must take advantage of the data they have within their business, which could be the difference between surviving and thriving.
Businesses should always strive to transform their data into business-enhancing insights, but there has never been a more important time to ensure people have access to the right information, at the right time, every time.
Businesses need to understand where improvements can be made or how time can be utilised to achieve better results and unlock the value in their data to deliver insight and drive productivity.
There are business intelligence apps that can help companies turn the masses of data they hold into timely, accurate and accessible information that drives well-informed decisions – without it, you’re just another person with an opinion.
What are the options?
Over the years, data scarcity has moved to data overload, which has caused confusion for many businesses that are struggling to see the wood from the trees.
Instead of manually sifting through endless pools of data, businesses need effective solutions that will do the heavy lifting for them, automatically creating insightful reports that allow for further analysis.
Even for the most experienced analysts, compiling reports manually is an extremely time-consuming process, and the final product usually lacks the level of detail and quality that’s needed to drive the business forward.
Meanwhile, Business Intelligence apps offer a streamlined alternative that will extract the relevant data and display it in an engaging report, offering up to the minute insights for employees at every level of the organisation.
Benefits For Facilities Managers
Business Intelligences solutions can provide massive benefits by providing insights derived from many different potential data sources from around the business/estate.
Buildings can be rich in the production of data such as electric, gas and water usage, feeds of data can be taken real-time to manage and predict costs and efficient usage patterns.
Coupled with specialist camera systems, footfall volumes can be monitored to tailor retail and staffing focus as well as social distancing needs, temperate checks, etc. Sensors in meeting rooms and desks can also show usage patterns and availability.
When the data from the above is joined, insights on resources, volumes, movement, usage can be brought to life.
Key Features
Consisting of a desktop application, an online SaaS (software as a service) and mobile application, Business Intelligence tools allow you to create, share and consume insights in a way that best serves your role.
One of the biggest attractions of these tools, is that they can be used for a variety of purposes, whether it’s a management team that needs to conduct an extensive, company-wide investigation or employees that want to monitor the progress of sales targets vs actual.
Depending on which tools your business decides to use, it can be easy for staff to navigate the various dashboards and create their reports. For example, Power BI uses a familiar Microsoft Office experience, so that existing customers feel comfortable using the service.
By connecting to the data scattered throughout your business, you can model and visualise it, creating memorable reports that have been personalised with business KPIs and company branding. All the answers to your questions will then be displayed in AI-powered answers, giving employees access to the information they need.
Ensuring A Return On Investment
From a business perspective, it’s important that you see a return on investment following the implementation of new Business Intelligence technology.
This is where making the most of your existing subscriptions can be advantageous. For example, in the case of Power BI, those businesses that already have the appropriate Office 365 subscription can also use the other Microsoft apps as part of the package.
Before deciding, it’s important to research the options carefully and select a service that benefits from regular maintenance and update cycles, as this will ensure any future issues are fixed promptly and new features are added to improve the user experience.
Some of the biggest and most recognisable service providers have built a strong reputation for introducing monthly updates, making important changes in direct response to customer feedback.
Weathering The Storm…
It’s no secret that the last few months have been some of the most challenging for many businesses, with the serious financial implications of the government-imposed lockdown likely to be felt for a long time to come.
However, the future needn’t be all doom and gloom, as the social distancing measures are relaxed, now is the perfect opportunity for businesses to ramp up their output and get their business back to where it was pre-lockdown.
With the help of Business Intelligence solutions, like Power BI, companies can spot business-enhancing trends and patterns, using these insights to weather the storm and come out the other side strong.
Finding the right solution for your business can be difficult, especially if you have little experience with Business Intelligence technology, so contact a team of specialists for the necessary advice and guidance.
