One of the biggest buzz words in IT trends over the past few years has been Self-Service Business Intelligence. While it may not be new, especially to the data scientists in your organization, it is still a hot topic which comes up in many customer conversations.
Self-Service BI allows for IT departments to put data analytics and its visualization into the hands of end users. This democratization of data allows your employees to create on-demand queries to address their current business needs. Previously, IT departments focused on creating production reporting for users to consume. These reports were inflexible, costly to change, and focused on data the IT department thought end users wanted. Self-Service BI solves these problems by enabling IT to create interactive dashboards that end users can use to view real-time, relevant data.
Prior to Self-Service BI, the tool of choice for many end users was Excel. In fact, a Forrester study found that 88% of nontechnical office workers rely exclusively or heavily on spreadsheets for their reporting and analysis needs. While a great tool, Excel is not an optimal solution. Spreadsheets do not offer real-time data, are difficult to publish within teams and require manual manipulation that is prone to user error. How many times has your organization looked at data in a presentation and spent more time discussing the integrity of the data versus the results the data was illustrating?
Like with any new tool, an adoption plan is critical to Self-Service BI success. End users can be slow to adapt and are reluctant to change from their current way of retrieving their favourite report. Research from Inside Analysis found that among businesses implementing self-service BI, 73% said the tools required more training than expected. The key to enabling empowering users to successfully use BI is not only give them the know-how to service themselves but also knowledge on how to interpret the data.
Self Service Business Intelligence is a trend that is here to stay. Giving business decision makers the power to make informed choices based on real time, pertinent data is likely to become something that companies consider critical to their success.
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Originally published Aug 9, 2017 10:50:02 AM, updated July 24, 2019
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We live in a time that is characterised by a major technology takeover, a time experiencing the 4th industrial revolution. Companies that want to survive and evolve must keep track of technology breakthroughs, because as we’ve come to know, technology can make or break a company’s success.
In light of that, it is imperative to always look forward in anticipation and not just wait for a trend to start “trending”. We have created a list of what we speculate to be the major technology trends of 2020 that everyone should keep an eye out for.
No matter how much technology advances, it is agreed that no single tool can replace humans. Most organisations out there are already familiar with automation, which involves automating simple tasks that require processes with predefined rules and structured data. The idea of HyperAutomation, on the other hand, involves a combination of tools that together result in the creation of an organisation’s digital twin, which allows for the automation of more complex work.
According to Gartner, combining robotic process automation, intelligent business management software, and AI enables organisations to visualise how functions, processes, and key performance indicators interact to drive value.
Allowing this digital twin to become an integral part of the HyperAutomation process as it provides real-time continuous intelligence about the organisation will enable more informed decision making. Successful automation involves several key factors: discover, analyse, design, automate, measure, monitor, & reassess.
An example of a tool that is designed based on these factors would be Exceed’s ESP.
While Blockchain was first developed back in 1991, it came to life with the introduction of Bitcoin in 2009. The idea of bitcoin mimics printed currency in the transactional sense, but instead of being regulated by a central bank or government, bitcoin is regulated by a network of computers. Blockchain is the protocol on which bitcoin is built.
In the simplest terms, Investopedia defines Blockchain as “a distributed, decentralised, public ledger”, which translates to digital information (blocks) that are stored in a public database (chain). While blockchain is beneficial in peer to peer transactions and small-scope projects, it remains immature for enterprise deployments due to technical issues.
However, market speculations anticipate it to be fully scalable by 2023. According to research conducted by Gartner, “true blockchain will have the potential to transform industries, and eventually the economy, as complementary technologies such as AI begin to integrate alongside blockchain.”
Can Machines Think?
AI involves designing “human-like” machines that are able to perform tasks requiring intelligence. Machines are built to mimic processes and tasks that involve recognition of images, speech, or patterns & decision making. Those processes include acquiring information and rules, using those rules to reach conclusions, & self-correction.
Unlike traditional coding, the computer creates instructions for itself using machine learning algorithms rather than having humans write those instructions. To demonstrate the effect of AI, take google translate for an example.
When it first went live, google translate used to have more than a million lines of code (human-created instructions). Currently, google translate has 500 lines of code due to machine learning. However, while it is expected to overtake every industry, one must understand its limitations.
Knowledge in AI comes from data, and for the machine to be accurate, it must read from accurate data. While businesses have been understanding what AI can and can't achieve for the past few years, it expected that the future points towards a time where machines are appointed not only all of the physical work, as they have done since the industrial revolution, but also the mental work involving planning, strategising, and making decisions.
Sources:
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/blockchain.asp
https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/gartner-top-10-strategic-technology-trends-for-2020/
https://www.simplilearn.com/top-technology-trends-and-jobs-article
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The growth and ultimate success of any company is determined by the consistency of results. These results can only be achieved if the team consistently meets the desired goals and targets. KPIs are the means of setting and measuring the success of these goals. In this post we will briefly take a look at what exactly KPIs are and why an organisation needs them.
KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are measurable values that show the effectiveness of a company’s business objectives. A company will set High-Level KPIs that measure the overall performance of the business towards achieving its strategy. Low-Level KPIs measure the performance of departments, units and individuals.
Although the terms “KPI” and “goal” are often used interchangeably, they are not really the same. A company’s goals define the outcomes that it desires to achieve, in a form of measurable results. KPIs, on the other hand, are indicators on the performance that tell whether the company is on track to achieve those goals.
Without knowing what the goals of the organisation are, there is no way to gauge a team or individual performance. Therefore, no ability to guide the team to improve or optimise. With clearly defined KPIs it is easier to give accountability to the specific team members and achieve transparency. Teams can collaborate better when they know exactly where to focus their energy.
Numbers do not lie! It is easy to answer the status update related questions when KPIS are clear as day. Performance analysis and making personal decisions is all easier. Work is not measured by irrelevant benchmarks such as hours at work or number of emails sent per day. KPIs let team members take responsibility of their time on the job and making sure that they align efforts with goals.
This is logical. When you implement KPIs, you will automatically need to develop systems/processes to measure them. With this information, the business intelligence gained will allow management to make more informed decisions.
Though they may be easily confused, KPI’s are not exactly an organisation's goals themselves, but they’re a measurement of them.
A KPI can indicate that your sales team is only generating 30% of the targeted number of leads that you have set as a goal. As a manager in this situation, you are instantly aware of your sales team’s progress and the reason for not hitting the desired numbers of leads.
When you’re able to measure your goals this way, it gives you the opportunity to see where the gaps in your efforts might be and subsequently make decisions that help you reach your goals faster.
If you measure the same KPIs quarter over quarter, you can begin to detect patterns in your numbers. These patterns can help you optimise your business strategies.
This can allow you to make predictions about the slow or high performing quarters. Or identify over or under performing team members and help them improve their efforts.
One of the main reasons to invest in a KPI software is integration. The data flow from different sources can be a big complication if no integration methods are applied.
Using a KPI software allows all your departments to enter their data manually into one big system, or the program can connect to different data flows automatically. Whichever method is used, you can be sure that the integrated connection will boost your business management.
Now that you know why KPIs are significant for your business, here is a handy guide to help you in defining KPIs for your organisation.
Download this FREE guide and start setting the KPIs that are relevant to your business.
This ebook will provide you with sample KPIs for the most common positions at service companies, with guidelines for setting smart KPIs.