Data Driven Business Transformation: Leveraging Analytics for Uplifting Operation Efficiency

Data is the Center of Business Transformation

Changing demands of customers have been a catalyst for business evolution. Customer needs like personalized experience, high responsiveness and instant digital loans are influencing businesses to innovate and change in order to remain competitive and profitable. Most of these digital changes have to be fueled by data which makes data a crucial asset for businesses. Data provides organizations with valuable insights and information that can be used to make better business decisions, improve operations efficiency, enhance customer experiences, and drive innovation. By leveraging the power of data, businesses can transform their operations and even their entire business models. For example, a sector like manufacturing can utilize data analytics to manage the supply chain process by aligning production with customer demand, forecasting inventory demand and enhancing overall supply chain efficiency. In a similar way, the financial sector, especially lenders, can take advantage of mobile-first approach and utilize data and data technologies to automate and expedite loan analysis, evaluation and disbursement, resulting in a more efficient and seamless borrowing experience. Another sector which can optimize its operations from data analytics is the health sector. There are a number of potential data use cases that can be implemented to improve healthcare service delivery. By analyzing data related to patient visit, appointment scheduling, resource utilization, historical outcomes and billing , organizations in the healthcare industry can identify challenges, inefficiencies, and areas for improvement. Businesses which embrace data and data analytics are positioning themselves for long-term success and remain relevant in a continuously evolving business landscape.

Challenges in embedding analytics in business processes

“Our data is small, we cannot start investing in data analytics” . This is a common phase in organizations where they are still reluctant to invest in data analytics. The major drivers to such belief are the culture, myth and lack of enough awareness to the benefits which are associated with the investment in data analytics. Businesses must have the courage to start investing in data analytics regardless of their data size. They should start investing in data analytics technologies and human resources based on their maturity level. There is always a way each business can benefit from data analytics if the investment will be put in alignment with the business strategy. Another challenge facing data analytics investment is the presence of unclean data. Dirty data cannot provide meaningful results when used in the data analytics process. It has to be cleaned for the result to make sense. The cleaning process most of the time is resource intensive and time consuming which can act as a showstopper in the process of adopting data analytics in an organization. To overcome unclean data challenges, businesses have to treat data cleanup as a continuous process and include it in the business strategy. A well-executed data cleanup strategy helps businesses enhance data quality and lays the foundation for reliable data analytics which eventually will lead to more informed decisions and effective business operations.

Data Analytics as Enabler of Operational Efficiency

Increasing work efficiency through automation of reports is one way that organizations can benefit from data analytics. Automating reports reduces and even eliminates the need for manual data analysis. By reducing manual intervention, businesses can reallocate resources to more value-adding activities, allowing individuals to focus on strategic initiatives and analysis. Examples of reports that are open for automation include but are not limited to sales report, expense report and KPI performance report. In addition, the automation provides an opportunity for stakeholders to receive the reports as dashboards through their mobile devices which enhance accessibility, convenience, and real-time decision-making. Apart from report automation, businesses have opportunities to use data analytics in transforming traditional processes to digital processes. Digital lending could serve as a prime example of a digital transformed process. It involves the use of data analytics, automation and digital technologies to enable individuals and businesses to borrow money quickly and conveniently. Data analytics as an enabler is also providing an opportunity to improve the interactions between a business and its customer.? Sending notifications to customers such as bank customers when there are activities related to their accounts adds more value and increases customer trust. For example, a bank customer may want to be notified on time if their accounts are about to turn dormant. In a similar way, notifications to patients from health centers serve multiple purposes, including appointment reminders, health education, test results, medication reminders, and general updates. Investing in data analytics is an investment that pays off in all aspects of the business performance and growth. Businesses are encouraged to embrace the integration of data analytics and automation into their business processes as the way to uplift operation efficiency.

About Emmanuel Damas

Emmanuel has eleven (11) years of experience in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) domain. His technology experience cuts across several sectors including financial, education, manufacturing, telecommunications, health and transport. He has been involved in strategic and governance activities in relation to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) such as ICT policies and procedures design, Data analytics projects, Data migration projects, ICT system projects implementation, ICT Audits and Awareness trainings especially on data analytics and cyber security domains. Emmanuel's mission is to continue helping people and institutions in reaching their vision through adoption of effective ICT governance practices.