The inability to match the increasingly rapid speed of business change has being affecting the implementation of Business Intelligence for a number of years. Further complicating the problem is the fact that many enterprise information technology systems often inhibit business flexibility, sometimes with dire consequences. A prime example: There is speculation that the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks might have been prevented if the FBI had had more flexible IT systems (National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States; Final report, 2004.)
The reality is that companies, change, merge, split or reorganize. New products and services are introduced as old ones are retired or modified to meet evolving demand, competition or regulations. One thing is for certain: agile businesses are more likely to thrive than ones that do not adjust quickly. Companies can lack agility for many reasons; one of the most common is the inflexibility of the current BI system, resulting in the inability to gain insight within a timeframe that allows decisions to impact the company’s profitability.
The Digital Revolution is transforming the marketplace and creating an unquenched thirst for business analytics. Business customers are buying more carefully, while demanding greater budget and business value from their choices. Today, customers benefit from the ability to see—and say—more about the companies that serve them. They demand better services with more choices and value from the products they purchase. In addition, they expect the company they are using to act in a socially and environmentally responsible manner.
At the same time, the new world of Facebook and Twitter is providing unprecedented opportunities for companies to engage with customers. If a company is to realize the potential of this deluge of new information and communication, they must first intercept and interpret vast quantities of data to find the meaningful parts. The volume and variety of data, much of it unstructured, are increasing with ferocious velocity leading to the term “Big Data.” CMOs, therefore, have to do more than ever before. They must manage more data, understand and engage with more demanding customers, and ensure their employees consistently exemplify their companies’ values. To attain this, they need tools and technologies often understood better by their children than by them.
Within most companies today, CFOs are increasingly responsible for IT as CIOs often report to the CFO, who in turn, must deliver the proper information and analytics to line-of-business leaders in order to help them run their companies most effectively. CFOs, on the other hand, need to be able to put critical line-of-business data into proper perspective, so they can better understand whether organic business expansion or growing through acquisitions is the preferred growth strategy.
For that reason, the ability to take advantage of analytics to correlate performance and growth is essential. Recent research shows organizations that lead in analytics outperform those that are just beginning by up to three times. Furthermore, it has been shown that the top performers using an analytical approach–instead of intuition–outperform the beginners by up to five and a half times! (Analytics: The New Path to Value, a joint MIT Sloan Management Review and IBM Institute of Business Value Study – Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2010).
Unfortunately, some IT departments are using a “full-steam ahead” mentality, and excluding the business customer, which does not bode well for long-term survival. Some companies are only discovering now that, like the proverbial iceberg, just 10 percent of their future plans are starting to be incorporated in discussions of analytics along with mobile and cloud adoption, while the vast majority remains below the surface.
During the next decade, the requirements and costs under the surface will filter to the top. These will include:
- Advice – Business Intelligence thought leaders will evolve into mavens to guide solutions with their influence and experience replacing IT best practices – enjoy the wisdom of crowds!
- Data – Access will be easy and complete; if you want sensor data, you will have access in minutes, not months.
- Analytics – There will be an app for that, which is easy to learn and use. It will serve the Gen Y business users who are used to just doing it.
- Visualization – 3D reality gaming techniques will make their way into all areas of computing and will extend the human senses in ways not thought of today.
- Processing Power – Massive computer farms will provide processing power on tap for those who need it; it will be easily accessed and budgeted through a credit card.
If IT is going to survive this quantum paradigm shift in the way business is performed, they must start adapting now. An excellent first step: Begin by improving customer communications with their most important customer: the business. Then stay on the fast track by improving flexibility and the ability of systems to provide data, analytics and reporting in an agile and user-driven environment.