“You can have data without information but you cannot have information without data.”
—Daniel Keys Moran, American computer programmer

We live in an age where data is everywhere – on our devices, on social media platforms and in the cloud. This means that every modern company – of every size and in every industry – has a bunch of data that it generates, stores, utilises, manipulates and occasionally discards.

This glut of data has even spawned a new term – Big Data.

Data helps organisations:

• Understand the market and industry
• Find new customers (and retain existing ones)
• Improve customer service
• Predict sales trends
• Make better marketing plans
• Track social media presence and influence
• Review performance and initiate improvements

Yet, despite the huge potential of data to transform business outcomes, many companies struggle to manage it properly. Therefore, they’re often unable to transform available ‘data’ into useful ‘information’ (no, they are not the same thing). Ultimately, they cannot make intelligent decisions to elevate their business performance.

So how can firms better manage their business data? How can they become more data-driven and less guesswork-driven?

Here are 5 ways!

1: Understand your data needs

Some data is information. Some data is junk. In other words, not all information is equal.

As a business owner or manager, you need to know which is which.

Many organisations lack knowledge of who owns specific information, how important it is or what it’s purpose is (or should be). You need to identify, map and classify all the information generated within your organisation to discover its relative value. Then you can more easily prioritise the analysis, security and protection for the information that really matters. Gaining an understanding of your data ecosystem will also enable you to design appropriate processes to manage it and create a long-term data-driven culture.

2: Build a robust data environment

Build an information infrastructure that enables your organisation to find, access and consume critical business information. To simplify the process, use available technologies such as virtualisation, Artificial Intelligence (AI) or cloud computing.

The setup should be optimised to collect, process and protect information from multiple sources, no matter what format it is in. Set standards for encoding, naming, classification and sharing. Also assign the relevant people or department to take responsibility for the data as well as its security and storage.

3: Design and implement clear KPIs

As already stated, data is not information.

So what kind of data constitutes information? Which department or process is it meant for? Which data should you analyse and which should you discard? Which is the most optimal format for your organisation’s decision-makers? Set clear, unambiguous KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to determine answers to all these questions.

Do this for all departments or Lines of Business to form a complete data indicator system.

4: Also set consistent policies

KPIs alone will not determine how useful your data is. It’s also essential to implement well-designed policies that can be enforced wherever the information resides, whether it’s in physical, virtual or cloud environments. Policies can ensure unified information classification, control access and distribution, and maintain a record of who creates, owns and uses specific information. Additional policies can also be created around information retention and deletion.

5: Design a reporting and analysis system

Once you have the information infrastructure in place, you have a systematic ecosystem to create, collect and save data. But without a reporting system, data cannot be used for improvements or decision-making.

Determine what kind of data each business unit needs. Then create reporting formats for tasks, departments, goals, etc. Reports can help monitor the current status of the business, manage scope creeps and find potential problems.

Finally, build an analysis system customised to your organisation’s (or department’s) needs that can help you analyse the reports and use them to make more intelligent decisions.

Conclusion

A number of business reporting tools are available to help you manage your business data. Use them to make the most of your data.

And remember to stay agile! Plan for the future by implementing a flexible infrastructure that is dynamic enough to support continued growth and changing business needs.

Cynergi’s partner firm Prime Infotech Soltion offers a number of data management and business reporting solutions at great prices! To know more about licensing, volume discounts and free trials, contact us today!