Why using Data Analytics accelerates your Digital Transformation

Digital Transformation is a concept that is the order of the day, and we will continue to hear about it for years to come. Until now, we have not seen such a speed of change in the business world. Globalization, hyperconnectivity, the disappearance of traditional boundaries between sectors and the emergence of new digital technologies are demanding a capacity for anticipation never seen before.

Digital Transformation requires a real change of mentality; it involves redesigning the business model, redefining products and services and, above all, adapting the corporate culture. In other words, a cultural and technological transformation.

"Digital Transformation is not just using technology, but changing processes within the company, structuring the whole business concept based on data."

Manuel del Barrio (Head of Business Development at Decide Soluciones)

However, a very important aspect of digital transformation is the contribution of technology to the improvement of the workspace. It is necessary to change the way things are done, to implement new procedures so that our business, whatever its size, can meet the challenges of digitization.

Accelerate change using your data

At the same time, we must select the tools that best suit our strategy, objectives and procedures, taking into account the different options available, and their possibilities: work in the cloud, mobility, security, data processing and analysis, management, communication, etc. We currently have affordable solutions for any type of business, even free of charge. You can find more information about trends in data analysis tools in our blog.

After the avalanche of concepts that come to us about digital transformation, we are surely already more than familiar with some terms such as: Business Analytics, Big Data, mobility, Omnichannel, Cybersecurity, Virtual Reality, etc.

We have never had so many, and so advanced, digital analytics tools as we do today. Thanks to them we can know in detail the consumer behavior throughout the purchase cycle. However, it seems that most companies seem to understand digital transformation as the mere implementation of digital tools, without carrying out a "business intelligence" exercise that transforms their perspective to a "customer centric" vision.

And this is where data analysis is crucial to successfully tackle digital transformation. Intelligent decision making must be supported by data. Otherwise, we will fall into the realm of speculation and personal impressions.

In addition to traditional BI tools, it is Big Data analytics tools that today provide the data needed at all times to make tactical and strategic decisions for the business. Among these tools is Biuwer.

Unify and automate your data

Modern Business Intelligence (BI) solutions enable companies to rely on analytical tools from the data generated by all of their everyday applications, including ERP, CRM, web applications, e-commerce systems, collaboration, marketing, etc. By integrating operational and financial data in one place, key people in the enterprise can ensure that business decisions are based on the most accurate data and a complete view of the business. The key is to create and maintain a competitive advantage that enables the company to anticipate and respond to changing business conditions faster, even in real time. Time is money, and a lot of timely decisions made in the right way equals a lot of money and a lot of time saved.

"Without our visual analytics solution, we would have to analyze massive amounts of data in spreadsheets. Instead, our dashboards provide useful and clear information. And, because of that, the company grows.”

Donald Lay (Senior Manager of Business Intelligence at Charles Schwab Corporation)

The importance of data-driven decision making

Incorporating data and analytics into decision-making cycles is the way to achieve the greatest impact on the organization. Once data analysis is incorporated into the daily workflow, we find ourselves with a feedback loop. That is, the results derived from data-driven decisions are fed back into the system, resulting in an acceleration of change, or in other words, an acceleration of business transformation. By correctly defining the objectives, we can keep a daily control of the reins of our business, being able to introduce improvements, optimizations or adjustments in its behavior as soon as we encounter problems or want to change course.

Whatever the objectives we set ourselves, when we use tools on a daily basis that allow us to make business decisions with much greater precision, we have the ability to:

• To decide to maintain the balance, i.e. to optimize what we already have, introducing the necessary adjustments, cost savings, time savings, etc.
• or decide to improve significantly, i.e. to enhance what we already have, to evolve, to grow, to improve. This case involves taking advantage of positive feedback to achieve new goals, surpass the competition, be more efficient, produce with lower costs, sell with higher margins, etc.

Let's take an example, with a company that sells food products. Its sales department establishes an annual sales forecast, in which the figures that each sales agent must sell in each region and to each customer are determined.

With the available data, we can establish as a strategy the maintenance of the business, selecting the most profitable products, those customers that represent a high percentage of the turnover, etc. This will give us working guidelines that imply changes, discarding unprofitable products or customers with low commercial margins, together with the reinforcement of the customer base with the greatest impact.

However, a more ambitious strategy that aims to improve sales figures can include as input data the geographical locations (provinces and cities) where demand for the products marketed is increasing the most. In this way, new markets can be established, assigning the appropriate sales team, in order to expand sales to new customers.

Was I making the right decisions?

This is a typical question that we can answer using a data analysis system, comparing the actual values obtained, versus the previous scenario. Asking these questions is part of the feedback process, where we can check if our company was on the right track or if we need to change the strategy.

Although the objective of making these comparisons is to improve results, not always all digital transformation initiatives immediately achieve the expected results. The measurable materialization of the benefits of those that do succeed using KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), leads to the continuous exploration of value co-creation and the incorporation of new ideas and opportunities into the innovation funnel.

Thanks to data analysis, we can base the business decisions we make on real information and not on assumptions, instinct or points of view. All this added value is summarized in the following benefits:

• Automate and improve business processes, saving time and minimizing costs.
• Identify new opportunities, enabling more efficient operations and more satisfied customers.
• Quickly detect weak points that need improvement.
• Have greater opportunities to increase profits.
• Anticipate potential problems by knowing in detail the behavior of customers, to make immediate decisions, even in real time.
• Determine the right time to launch a new product or service.
• Anticipate customer needs with a service that the market demands.
• Accurately measure ROI (Return on Investment).
• Efficiently focus efforts and allocated budgets.
• Know in detail the sales performance.
• Identify target customers with greater precision.
• Increase team productivity.

In short, digital transformation allows companies to promote a culture of innovation within their organization to be more competitive, have a greater ability to respond quickly to change and optimize internal collaboration.

Want to accelerate your company's digital transformation?

Get up and running and start analyzing your data. With Biuwer you will get the maximum value from your data to efficiently manage your business. We offer you a Free Starter Pack with which we will help you take the step you need to accelerate the digital transformation of your company.