By Tim Chisnall, Founder and CIO

When you make a business decision, how do you do it? By that, we don’t mean who’s involved in making the decision (although that’s also important, of course), but rather what information are you using? And how do you know if you’ve got all of the right information to help you make the best call?

Data powered decisions

Questions like this have been troubling business leaders and their trusted advisers for centuries. But now, as we enter some challenging times where only the smartest, most agile organisations are likely to survive, having the right answers – enabled by the right data at your fingertips – has never been more important.

What’s more, for the vast numbers of businesses that are having to think on their feet and pivot quickly as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic – often on a regular basis – being able to make good decisions rapidly can be the difference between survival and going under.

In our experience, this all boils down to data and how you can make the best use of it.

Make the best use of your data

Most organisations these days, whatever their size, understand the importance of managing their data and having digital systems in place to enable this, whether it’s a CRM system for holding information about customers, or a full-blown ERP system that can handle multiple, complex data streams. (And if you don’t, give us a call quickly and we’ll be able to advise you on how to find the right solution for you.)

However, it’s astounding how many invest significant sums into these kinds of systems yet fail to make full use of what they can offer – thus failing to reap the rewards of the ‘intelligent enterprise’ that they can help you to create, where everyone in the business has rich, accurate information at their fingertips, giving them the knowledge and insights required to constantly make the best possible decisions.

In a real-world example, we recently came across a business that had invested more than £1m in a Salesforce CRM system, yet were using it as little more than a place to store customer contact details. It’s a bit like buying an entire IKEA store and only using the filing cabinets.

Real-time data at your fingertips

Fortunately, however, that business is now investing time, energy and a relatively small amount of budget into maximising the value of that system. When this is done, decision-makers at all levels will be able to see real-time data about their customers that they know is relevant, accurate, complete and up-to-date.

And with all that at their fingertips, they will be able to make the kinds of decisions that will deliver better value for their customers and help them to stand out from the competition. What’s more, the business’s leaders will be able to react quickly to data they know they can trust, and make sure their company is on course to find a path through the current difficulties and those that are still to come.

In short, it will become an intelligent enterprise. So, is yours?

In the follow up to this article, we’ll show you how an in-depth review of your technology and data management can be a powerful way to maximise the value of your digital investments.

But if you can’t wait till then and would like to find out how your data can boost your business decision-making, please get in touch.