By: Marc Arbesman, CIO, ThrottleNet

 

Click Here to watch Marc’s TNtv interview regarding Business Intelligence

Is your company good at collecting data but unsure what to do with it?

Point of sales information, order transactions, and other revenue generating data often gets stored but never fully analyzed from a global point of view.

Companies have a tendency to funnel this information into different “silos”. Some goes to marketing, some to sales, and some to accounting.  Each area may have their own operating system with which to view their own data.

This diverse data is often spewed out in some type of fire hose approach without much forethought for its intended use. Business owners and high-level executives are left scratching their heads trying to figure out how to sort through it all while needing to make appropriate decisions that impact company performance.

To avoid these operational headaches, many enterprises are now deploying a Business Intelligence (BI) initiative. BI, coupled with the right technology, ensures that proper reporting mechanisms are in place, and that they are understandable and easily translated for the C-suite.

Business Intelligence provides for establishing Key Performance Indicators or KPIs. Once established key data points can be watched that correlate with the KPIs. Those data points can be monitored through all inputs in the system. That key data is then produced and summarized into bite sized chunks and consolidated into a unified format. Visualizations such as charts and graphs can be created. In this way all aspect of business operations, from order processing to CRM, are virtually speaking the same language.

The proper use of Business Intelligence provides a real insight into sales trends, customer satisfaction issues and other operational issues that may be occurring. These items allow you to measure corporate performance against established goals, understand from a glance where you need to make improvements, and make the necessary changes for better performance.

 

 

 

IT companies like ThrottleNet can help a company establish a Business Intelligence system or maximize the effectiveness of those with a system in place. It ensures your data is gathered efficiently and interpreted properly, providing a solid base of information to make forward looking decisions.