The year of 2020 saw two years' worth of digital transformation in the space of two months. While this sounds impressive, it must be noted that many of these digital solutions were designed and implemented to be an interim, quick-fix solution. After all, Covid-19 surely was not going to last more than a couple of months…
In an economy that is contracting, it is ever more important for businesses to become more efficient and retain market share. I challenge you to readdress those quick-fix solutions and plan for not only a sustainable, but a resilient future. Data-led decisions Business leaders should now be asking themselves “do we have a true understanding of our suppliers, operations, people, customers and marketplace?”
Such understanding derives from data. As a starting point, the data you should focus on is that which can be generated and analysed in your day-to-day business operations. This is existing information about your customers, operations, people, suppliers and supply chain. To use this data effectively, it must offer a single version of the truth through an undisputed source of performance data. Critically, this data should be presented in a way that not only supports informed decision making, but also provides immediate feedback and analysis opportunities.
Take your finance department as an example – one of the main challenges they face are the inefficiencies around collating and analysing large datasets. The amount of resource and time needed to transform this data into deep business insights and reports is colossal and often unnecessary. Many companies have data stored in numerous, disparate systems, creating challenges to deliver accurate, on-demand management information. This is where business intelligence tools such as, Power BI come in. Compiling and automating relevant information into a tailored interface, enabling users to efficiently extract information and make data-driven predictions based on realtime statistics. These scalable business intelligence tools help you gain a deeper understanding of your data, as well as ensuring you get the most out of any big data investments. Insights can be shared and promoted across your organisation, whilst maintaining accuracy, consistency and security. Streamline your processes Many businesses responded to the economic uncertainties and huge drop in demand by reducing their workforce. Whether your business made redundancies or not, one question remains: can your business thrive with reduced resource? Crucially, businesses now need to assess whether workloads can be more efficiently managed, and which of their processes can be streamlined through automation. This in turn will not only reduce overheads but increase business resilience. Frustrations around manual data entry, the inability to find what is needed, time spent tracking down data inconsistencies, and in some cases the hours spent manually compiling reports are far from uncommon. Whilst good-intentioned, workarounds such as Excel spreadsheets demand far too much of our precious time and resource. Employees can quickly become absorbed in hightouch manual steps to data entry that despite best efforts often result in incomplete data and ultimately impair productivity. Automating processes produces results immediately and eliminates any risk of human error. Importantly, replacing mundane and timeconsuming tasks, keeping overheads down and freeing up resource to focus on the all-important relationship-building or creative tasks that humans are designed for. Consolidating disjointed processes and systems can be achieved easily through products such as Microsoft Dynamics 365. Through its modular approach, Dynamics 365 allows businesses to take only the applications that are most appropriate and suitable to them and their existing systems. This is an industryleading product suitable for all business types regardless of size or sector.
When implemented correctly, Dynamics guarantees improved efficiencies and according to multiple recent reports, for every £1 spent, you will see a minimum return of £7. Implementing a solution like Microsoft Dynamics 365 will help your organisation improve data access and automate processes, enabling your employees to spend more time strengthening existing customer relationships and pursuing new ones. Embracing change.
Whether through business intelligence tools, automation, or a mixture of the two, such digitalisation will provide sustainable solutions and crucially improve efficiencies. It is fair to assume that the marketplace is only going to get more competitive and it is organisations who embrace change and build resilience into their operations, that will not only survive but thrive.