“Business Intelligence: The key to staying ahead of the competition”

In today’s rapidly changing business environment, staying ahead of the competition is more crucial than ever. One effective way to achieve this is through the implementation of Business Intelligence (BI). BI provides companies with access to real-time information, allowing them to respond quickly to shifts in the market and maintain a competitive advantage.

The core of BI is having access to the most current information possible, including data on customer behavior, sales, and inventory. With this information readily available, businesses can make decisions promptly and accurately, giving them a significant edge over their rivals.

One of the most significant advantages of BI is the ability to quickly identify and respond to changes in the marketplace. For example, if a business is monitoring customer behavior and observes a sudden spike in demand for a specific product, they can respond by increasing inventory levels to meet that demand. Conversely, if a decline in sales is noticed, steps can be taken to address the issue before it becomes a critical problem.

BI also enables companies to discover new opportunities. For example, if a business is monitoring social media, they may come across a trend in customer complaints about a specific issue. The business can then take action to address the issue, not only enhancing customer satisfaction but also potentially creating a new product or service.

Another benefit of BI is the ability to spot and address potential problems before they escalate. For example, if a business is monitoring its inventory levels and notices that a particular product is running low, they can take steps to restock before running out completely. This helps prevent stock outs and ensures customers can always purchase the products they need.

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BI is essential for companies operating in highly competitive markets. With access to real-time information, businesses can make decisions promptly and accurately, giving them a significant advantage over their rivals. For example, if a business is monitoring the activities of its competitors and notices that one of them is launching a new product or service, they can respond quickly by developing a similar offering of their own.

Implementing BI is not a straightforward task and requires significant investments in technology, data management, and staff training. However, the benefits of real-time BI justify the investment. By providing companies with access to real-time information, BI can help organizations respond quickly to changes in the marketplace, identify new opportunities, and stay ahead of the competition.

Finance Analytics using Microsoft PowerBI

Finance Analytics using
Microsoft PowerBI

Oversee and keep track of your business’
finances with interactive analytics and key statistics.

Finance Analytics using
Microsoft PowerBI

Oversee and keep track of your business’
finances with interactive analytics and key statistics

Every day, businesses all over the world generate profound amounts of financial data. As we approach Industry 4.0 where data is coined as the new oil, what companies ultimately do with these huge volumes of data sets them apart from the rest. Having the fundamental financial awareness and proper tools to uncover the right information is paramount for a firm to function and expand.

The Finance department is essential for any business out there. Being financially aware and constantly improving money management strategies are pivotal for an enterprise to prosper. However, keeping track of the revenues and expenditures of every single department of a large firm may come off as a daunting task due to the sheer amount of workload and data that the Finance department may shoulder.

 

What are some Current Trends of Finance departments and companies?

The role of the Finance team is ever-changing and dynamic. In these times, most companies rely on Financial Data to plan for the future. Coerced by the pressure to constantly evolve, Finance departments and companies have been continually investing in fresh Artificial Intelligence technologies, as well as modern Data and Analytics tools in hopes of saving time and boosting productivity. However, a large majority of these tools and technologies are unable to process and generate larger volumes of data, causing Finance departments to run into a wall in the long run.

So what can we do with all this data? 

With Microsoft PowerBI, we can generate informative reports and interactive dashboards from large amounts of data to provide businesses with an all-in-one, concise overview of their financial status. Data of revenues, budgets, balance by departments, and much more can be presented neatly on these dashboards, and actionable insights can be acquired from them conveniently. By aiding businesses in understanding the top and bottom-line performances, Financial Analytics offers multifarious perspectives into organizational financial statuses and promotes profitability. 

On top of replacing physical labor with automation and improving the overall efficiency of the Financial department, PowerBI possesses the ability to take in and exhibit large amounts of data in the form of interactive dashboards and graphs without overloading the system. Information and actionable insights gained from the dashboards only increase in value over time, and Finance departments need not worry about plotting out graphs repeatedly in the future. 

With a wealth of financial data from the numerous departments throughout the organization, Finance teams are able to leverage the data collected and identify patterns to make relevant business predictions. The application of the freshly extracted knowledge and insights from the data sets can be translated into tangible business value, allowing businesses to make informed decisions regarding their expenditure and investment control. Essentially, Finance Analytics shapes business strategies through reliable, factual insight rather than intuition.

Finance analytical dashboards and charts – How do I go about doing it?

Below is a short video demo on how PowerBI, a growing Microsoft Business intelligence tool, has been used on a sample financial data, giving insights to the firm about their actual budget, expenditures, revenue gained, and much more. The demo walks through numerous reports and drills down to uncover deeper information, showcasing the flexibility and ease of usage of a tool like PowerBI as well.

Enhancing the reports

In our next case study, we will talk about how such reports can be extended to have elements of predictive analytics and machine learning which will further help businesses control costs and maximize revenue. Systems such as recommendation, financial forecasting, and others can enhance the usability and effectiveness of such reports.

Want to know more?

If you think this solution would be useful for your organization or you have a relevant use case or pain point you would like to tackle, get in touch with us today and we can help you and work together towards a solution!

Book a Consultation

HR Analytics using Microsoft PowerBI

HR Analytics using
Microsoft PowerBI

Analyze employees, attrition, diversity and
help your business take effective data-driven decisions

HR Analytics using
Microsoft PowerBI

Analyze employees, attrition, diversity and
help your business take effective data-driven decisions

What are the pain points faced by HR Professionals?

Even if you love your work as a human resource professional, every job has its “pain points”.

HR deals with many issues like:

  • Recruitment and Retention – finding and retaining talent is an ongoing challenge
  • Strategic Decisions (Time-Consuming) – work with unhappy employees
  • Monitor employee performance – especially critical for large companies with thousands of employees and multiple locations
  • Technology adoption – Workers who are used to old ways of doing things may resist change

How can Business Intelligence and Analytics help the HRs?

Business intelligence helps you take your business decisions more effectively with data and analysis. This creates the basis for success. It is an aid in all business areas, from growth to human resources to marketing, and helps transform several key processes.

Human resource departments fulfill several key functions within a company; such as hiring, training, organizing corporate events, and the not-so-pleasant business of firing. The HR manager’s role itself is to handle MANY things and demands unique solutions.

Business intelligence and analytics meet those needs in a variety of ways:

  • Business intelligence for…hiring
  • Business intelligence for… measuring success/performance
  • Business intelligence for… optimizing processes
  • Business intelligence for…cultural changes
  • Business intelligence for…high turnover rate

The main purpose of Human Resource management is to measure the work achievement of employees, their role in the services or business, and to analyze employee retention and attrition in the company.

All human resource reports and dashboards are persona-based, in the current context it explains why there is an increasing emphasis on finding and attracting the best talent. Information is spread by Powerful Views like Headcount summary, Actives & Separation Summary, Recruitment source, and many others.

Some common reports that HRs like to gain insights from

Headcount summary:

Headcount summary explains the present headcount of employees by location, gender, department, company, total employees by recruitment source.

Actives & Separation Summary:

Actives & Separation summary explains separation by region, active & separation by gender, active & separation by race, separation by performance score.

Recruitment source:

Recruitment source summary explains performance score by recruitment source, active & separation by recruitment source, recruitment source by gender, and so on.

Below is a short demo on how PowerBI, a growing Microsoft Business intelligence tool, has been used on a sample HR data, to give insights to the business about headcount, recruitment source, employee performance, and other metrics and indicators. The demo walks through multiple reports and drills down to give the organization detailed information. It also shows the ease of use of a tool like PowerBI with huge data, both for simple and complex reports.

Conclusion

HR analytics help HR teams set goals, measure success, and optimize processes so the company can focus on employee satisfaction. When used responsibly and effectively, HR analytics provide the insights companies need to tackle difficult challenges like lack of diversity or a high turnover rate.

Want to know more?

If you think this solution would be useful for your organization or you have a relevant use case or pain point you would like to tackle, get in touch with us today and we can help you and work together towards a solution!

Book a Consultation

Countries leading the way in AI

Merely one mention of artificial intelligence invokes the pictures of robots, chatbots, or self-driving cars. Artificial intelligence, a branch of computer science deals with devising technology and machines that are capable of performing tasks that require human intelligence. AI is everywhere and it has not stepped down since its invasion. The new decade will witness massive investments by global technology giants into AI technologies.

In the race to acquire and develop the most efficient and ingenious technologies, countries worldwide have been setting guidelines and investing immensely in the field of AI. Following are the statistics of the global AI readiness Index conducted by Oxford Insights and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in 2019. The index covers 194 countries and territories and ranks them according to their preparedness to implement AI in the delivery of public services and internal operations. Each country is allocated a score that considers 11 input metrics under 4 clusters: governance, infrastructure and data, skills and education, and government and public services. The report suggests that the rankings are dominated by countries that have robust economies, an abundance of data and information, and a government with a strong vision.

  • Singapore comes first in the list of artificial intelligence readiness with a score of 9.186.
  • The top 20 positions are acquired by Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and some European countries, and Asian countries. China, currently 21st in the global rankings will improve in the upcoming years because of the government’s inclination to optimize data and artificial intelligence.
  • Most of the countries in North America were awarded higher ranks in the list while the African and Asia-Pacific regions were the worst performers.

Country

RankScore
Singapore19.186
United Kingdom29.069
Germany38.810
United States of America48.804
Finland58.772
Sweden68.674
Canada68.674
France88.608
Denmark98.601
Japan10

8.582

 

  • India stands third in the Asia Pacific region after Singapore and Hong Kong and 19th in the global index overall. According to surveys, it is one of the most prepared economies with regard to government readiness to artificial intelligence. But despite this availability, it lacks creativity, innovation, and awareness which are the reasons behind Indian start-ups lagging behind those of the American and other developed countries. 76% of start-ups in India believe that there is a dearth of skilled professionals in the field of AI and hence hesitate from using these technologies in their business. But the established companies like Amazon, Google, and Apple are employing AI technologies like deep learning, language processing, and machine learning and are acquiring start-ups to provide new and improved experiences across their services.
Present and expected Scenario

China, USA, Japan, United Kingdom, and Germany are the leading countries in AI research. China recently announced its intention to become ‘a principal world center of artificial intelligence innovation’ by 2030. And America’s distinct pool of research technology knowledge and business market power will contribute to helping them achieve their AI development objectives.

Although the United States remains highly invested in AI and the latest technologies, it seems likely that China might win over America in the race. Despite having the 5 tech-giants – Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Google, and Microsoft, it looks as if the US will be lagging behind developing countries like China. In the US, the resources are available in ample amounts but are fragmented and the potential isn’t utilized efficiently. Also, the national leadership is quite weak and there is a lack of systematic vision.

On the other hand, China apart from having the latest computers, smartphones, gadgets and other electronic devices is now focusing on system-wide AI. This includes robotics, advanced medical equipment, and autonomous vehicles (AVs). China’s growing internet economy and shift of industries towards data analytics and AI trends will be a major contributing factor in its AI boom. Some examples of Chinese AI companies that are developing are UBTECH Robotics which is developing humanoid robots and SenseTime which is building facial recognition technology.

Thus, although the United States still remains ahead of others in the AI industry, if China implements the policies and strategies effectively, it will soon manage to replace the USA. Therefore, from the increasing demand and usage of AI-driven technologies, it can be concluded that AI, machine learning, and data science will thrive as the most in-demand skills in the near future.

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Singapore’s artificial intelligence industry will be booming in the upcoming decade. Singapore is one of the first countries to announce a national AI strategy in 2017. One of the most effective ideas that were put into action by the government of Singapore to achieve this was the establishment of the AI Ethics Advisory Council. This council has been established to assist the government to develop standards and guidelines and issue practical guidance for the voluntary adoption of AI in businesses and organizations. (Everything you need to know about Singapore’s AI strategy)

Singapore is a trailblazer in the Asia-Pacific region when it comes to accepting new technologies. Singapore has chosen five big AI-driven development projects that address national challenges keeping into consideration the impact on society and economy with an aim to become the global hub of AI technologies. Also, educational institutions there have increased emphasis on fields such as mathematics, statistics, computer science, and information technology to allow students to understand the significance and trend of data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Business and management organizations too are focusing on data trends as well apart from their regular curriculum (Analyze data and build stunning reports using our services). UAE and Singapore were trendsetters in bringing AI decision-making at the cabinet-level. They have justified the strengths and strategies that have the potential to make these countries the leading producers of AI technologies.

Present and expected Scenario

China, USA, Japan, United Kingdom, and Germany are the leading countries in AI research. China recently announced its intention to become ‘a principal world center of artificial intelligence innovation’ by 2030. And America’s distinct pool of research technology knowledge and business market power will contribute to helping them achieve their AI development objectives.

Although the United States remains highly invested in AI and the latest technologies, it seems likely that China might win over America in the race. Despite having the 5 tech-giants – Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Google, and Microsoft, it looks as if the US will be lagging behind developing countries like China. In the US, the resources are available in ample amounts but are fragmented and the potential isn’t utilized efficiently. Also, the national leadership is quite weak and there is a lack of systematic vision.

On the other hand, China apart from having the latest computers, smartphones, gadgets and other electronic devices is now focusing on system-wide AI. This includes robotics, advanced medical equipment, and autonomous vehicles (AVs). China’s growing internet economy and shift of industries towards data analytics and AI trends will be a major contributing factor in its AI boom. Some examples of Chinese AI companies that are developing are UBTECH Robotics which is developing humanoid robots and SenseTime which is building facial recognition technology.

Thus, although the United States still remains ahead of others in the AI industry, if China implements the policies and strategies effectively, it will soon manage to replace the USA. Therefore, from the increasing demand and usage of AI-driven technologies, it can be concluded that AI, machine learning, and data science will thrive as the most in-demand skills in the near future. 

How Analytics is helping small businesses survive Covid-19?

Analytics trends in the business world

Data is power for small-scale businesses.  Ensuring the compatibility of adopted strategies with the business goals and objectives is supremely important for any business to grow. With ample insights into the usage of their products and services, smaller businesses can learn about customer interests, predict trends and align their marketing and product management approach. And this is when analytics comes into the picture.

What is analytics?

Analytics is the systematic analysis of data using statistical, computer programming and operations research techniques to derive patterns and meaningful insights from it and utilise them to make decisions effectively. It helps obtain a comprehensive analysis to understand what is working and what needs to be improved. It is time that small & medium businesses start owning data analytics and use it to their advantage.

For small scale businesses with limited resources and assets, social media pages and company websites can be tracked efficiently to gather customer data (Read: Image Analytics and AI in social media marketing). But merely gathering this data doesn’t complete the job. The data obtained requires sorting and visualisation. Tools like Google Analytics and Tableau provide analytics reports free of cost, hence are considered as the most feasible options for data analysis for smaller companies. R and Apache Spark are a few of the other popular business analytics tools.

In 2019, the following data analytics trends were prominent in the business world-

1. Deep learning- Deep learning, a part of machine learning has advanced techniques that are helping companies and firms to improve their decision-making abilities and facilitate operational work. It is based on artificial neural networks with representation learning. These are capable of sorting and structuring a large amount of data. An example of application of deep learning for many businesses is content recommendation. Businesses should start using deep learning to analyse the user’s taste and recommend content accordingly thus improving customer experience and easing marketing efforts.

2. Machine learning- The adoption of machine learning is increasing by leaps and bounds, and that’s not surprising given its benefits, from eliminating manual tasks to deducing useful insights from data. A subset of artificial intelligence, machine learning is the study of algorithms that improve on their own. Customer Segmentation & Lifetime Value Prediction are some of the most popular applications of machine learning in business.

3. Dark data- Dark data is the data that is acquired through computational operations but is not used to predict trends and draw conclusions from. Unused email correspondences and raw survey data are examples of dark data. This data obtained is analysed to obtain information like the customer’s preferred mode of communication. The traditional unstructured data that inundates the data centres in firms can be interpreted easily using dark data analytics and can be used to promote the growth of the company.

Small-scale businesses can use data analytics and machine learning algorithms to track customers throughout the sales and transaction cycle and can use analytics reports to find answers to questions like at what stage products and services are brought most frequently, thus improving customer service.

Analytics techniques provide detailed insights into customer behaviour and this knowledge is remarkably valuable to developing businesses. Analysing customer reviews, frequently asked questions and conversations between sales assistants and customers can contribute in setting standards to improve customer service hence boost growth. Analytics can also be used to manage budget and expenditure efficiently. Businesses with abundant resources can invest in multiple marketing strategies and opt for business intelligence solutions but smaller businesses can neither afford nor apply these on them. In such cases, analytics plays a crucial role. By focusing on a limited number of established and tested sales strategies the smaller companies can manage to increase the RoI.

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Data Analytics and Business during the pandemic

While the global health professionals and scientists are joining hands to accelerate the research and development process and devise standards to curb the spread of the coronavirus, a major section of the business world comprising of the small-scale businesses is struggling to survive the economic and global supply chain disruptions. But on one hand, as this crisis complicated the lives of businessmen, on the other it opened newer dimensions and perspectives for them specifically in merging with the field of data science and data analytics.  A recent survey conducted by Sisence, a Business Intelligence software company, suggests that businesses are shifting massively to data analytics to help them sustain the pandemic and expand their business.

Analytics is booming since and before the rise of the Covid-19 pandemic. Encountering the sudden downfall in revenues, businesses are using analytics reports to cater to the changing demands and needs of their customers and search for ways for better performance in their respective ventures (Read: Stories of small business: resilience amid COVID-19)

Some insights into the survey:

  • The survey demonstrates that 55% businesses, during the pandemic are using analytics techniques to improve efficiency and 47% and 45% of the total that were surveyed are using the same to support customers and predict future outcomes respectively.

  • The usage of analytics has catapulted significantly in the smaller firms and companies. 68% small businesses are using analytics for operational purposes, 56% in finance, 50% in sales and 45% in products.

Most importantly, this survey reveals that the data professionals remain optimistic about the business opportunities and the importance of analytics in businesses despite the growing economic challenges. 79% of those surveyed believe we’ll survive this global crisis and there are no chances of data analytics trends getting diminished in the near future.

Why did the small-scale businesses suddenly observe an ardent spike in the usage of data analytics during Covid-19 pandemic?

Small businesses are focusing on improving their efficiency and building a strong customer base. They are certainly not established enough to opt for a single streamlined business intelligence solution, like other larger companies. Therefore, to draw insights and convert them into actions, data analytics is the most suitable tool for them. And this is why the businesses that have employed less than 200-300 people have shown the maximum increase in the usage of data analytics during pandemic.

By 2021, 265% growth is expected in e-commerce sales which implies huge amount of production of data. And with two out of every three companies opting for data analytics in the present to manage their data, the increasing demand for analytics skills seems justified.