The Future is Bright for Business of All Sizes with the Power of AI

Back at the beginning of the 2000s in the early days of Microsoft Dynamics, The first production release of Dynamics (CRM V1.2) was limited in its capabilities, particularly in its ability to see and understand customer data. Written from the ground up for .Net, Dynamics CRM V1.2 did allow new functionality to be added quickly and effectively.  

Twenty years later, the power of AI and automation to connect people with people and people with processes has increased exponentially, and we’ve superseded what we thought would ever be possible.

There is now so much you can do to connect companies with their data. The future is bright, and the possibilities limitless.

Business at the Speed of Thought: Power of AI

Today, a systems integrator at a company like Nexon can bring together huge numbers of disparate data sources about a customer or a business asset and analyse them to improve business decision-making.

Large enterprises often operate several different systems, each of which contains valuable customer information. These systems might include point of sale, a loyalty system, a support ticketing system, a CRM system, or a financial system. However, the data is siloed and the trends around customer behavior remain unclear. Using all of these points of data can seem like the right approach, but without the right technology connecting these, you are left wondering what it all means.

Using AI, a smart systems integrator, can provide insights into any aspect of the business’ operation – from a customer to a prospect, a stakeholder or even a physical asset.

By providing business leaders with this kind of information at their fingertips, AI and Machine Based Learning (MBL) allows them to make better and faster decisions; approaching what Bill Gates once referred to as ‘business at the speed of thought’.

Transforming Operations with Accurate Data

There is now no excuse for inaccurate data. The real trick is in turning the data gathered into actionable insights for the business.

 Microsoft Customer Insights, the solution which utilises AI as part of the Microsoft Customer Data Platform (CDP), will de-duplicate the information available, then analyse it to look for trends, turning the data into actionable insights.

For example, a HVAC client recently wanted to understand the performance and service history of their commercial air conditioning units. They needed to understand how weather, location and servicing were impacting their equipment and be able to pinpoint precisely when an asset might breakdown or work less effectively. Without this vital information, they were left fixing issues as they appeared with no oversight or guidance. They were, for lack of a better term, punching in the dark. They also wanted to give their field service operators the power to respond in an agile manner and ensure customer satisfaction.

Leveraging  IoT (Internet of Things)

The solution provided leveraged  IoT (or Internet of Things). Telemetric devices were installed on each of the commercial air conditioning units to monitor a range of health factors - from temperature to humidity, vibration, water levels and condensation.

Each device now analyses these health factors and sends signals back to the IoT hub in Azure, which provides a report on each asset’s condition 24/7.

The business can send out a field service operator to a unit before a breakdown.

The impact of this solution for the asset-intensive HVAC business has been twofold. Firstly, it has helped satisfy customer expectation by avoiding asset breakdowns and, secondly, the business has taken control of its field service operation schedule.

Today in AI, customers expect you to know their industry inside and out and approach them with a prior understanding of their pain points - whether their business is air conditioning or healthcare.

Systems integrators must understand the pressures that individuals are facing in that industry, shrink wrap the solution, then make that solution repeatable.

D365 CE and the Power Platform

D365 Customer Engagement (CE) is a platform comprising sales, customer service, field service, marketing, HR, project services, automation, and project operations – all modules that come together as a bespoke data integration solution for any client.

 D365 CE dovetails with the Power BI or Power Platform – a business application that brings together multiple data sources and displays them visually in a reporting dashboard platform.

The other aspect to this AI solution toolkit is Power Automate – a workflow automation solution from Microsoft. Through Power Automate you can bring multiple applications together, even applications from different vendors, and can then (through Power Automate and what we call Dataverse) connect those systems together in one common workflow.

A final element in the mix is Power Apps, a low code or no code development engine. Power Apps is a service for building and using custom applications for any business. You can quickly and effectively build an application for a specific workload for any business and on any device.

Future of AI Industry

If this technology had been available 10 years ago, it would have come with a multi-million-dollar price tag. But today, mid-market sized organisations can adopt AI and benefit from in-depth customer insights.

The beauty of today’s AI also lies in its scalability. A business can start with a small solution and build up according to budget, other resources, availability, and capacity for change.

In the future, AI is going to develop even faster at scale and will be available at a lower cost for smaller or even single person operations. The power of AI will be more accessible, and the price point will exponentially drop.

No Pain, No Gain?

‘Going live’ with new technology is very much not the end of a successful project.

Adopting AI brings businesses outstanding results but getting the full benefits of the implementation takes time. It is vital that end-users voices and opinions are heard all along the journey.

At Nexon, we offer clients an unrivalled integration of security protection and penetration testing, as well as a breadth of knowledge and complete scalability.

We also bring very valuable change management expertise to what is never a pain free process.

If you want to find out how AI and automation can be integrated into your business, send me a message or head to www.nexon.com.au.