Gayle Ryan for Business Excellence writes: A few years ago, the ability to capture and manipulate data
was an exciting possibility. Organizations often pulled information from
databases, which they would then export into Excel to manipulate and
analyze. Today, however, static reporting is no longer enough. Recently
there has been a shift in Information Technology from traditional
Business Intelligence (BI), where reports are static, to data discovery,
where the reports are focused on users, and are dynamic and easy to
use. Organizations now need to be able to explore their information and
visualize the data in order to stay competitive.
Organizations have more data than ever before, and companies that
have developed a way to harness and explore their data have an advantage
in the market. Excel has its place for certain functions, but
spreadsheets don’t allow decision makers to see the big picture as
effectively as a dashboard. In fact, even Microsoft has noticed the
shift away from static reporting and realized that Excel isn’t enough,
which is why there are more data discovery capabilities in newer
versions of Excel and in Microsoft Power View. Still, even the added
capabilities in Microsoft Power View still do not allow users to fully
monitor, analyze, and explore their data. In order to remain agile and
recognize opportunities, organizations need to invest in BI tools that
include data discovery and dashboards.
Gartner predicts that more and more devices will be connected with
the internet, calling it the “Internet of Everything”. Gartner named
this one of the top 10 strategic technology trends for 2014, predicting
that this trend will drive an enormous increase in information
available. With this massive expansion in available information, the
potential for exploration and analysis also grows, requiring the need
for more sophisticated and proactive information management and
analytical models. Is Excel up to the task?
Excel reports are static, and take time to produce. By the time the
decision makers receive their report, the information is already out of
date. With a real-time dashboard, people receive updates as soon as the
information is available. Dashboards are also interactive, unlike Excel,
which means that if a certain data point is troubling, dashboard users
can drill down to get more information. Dashboards even provide alerts
and updates when something is amiss. Excel spreadsheets do not provide
alerts or updates, and, they are actually hindering our ability to
understand critical information by being difficult to read. Finally,
Excel spreadsheets are prone to error. One typo can skew all of the
data, and it may take time to notice and correct the mistake. Data
discovery tools are automated, and much of the room for human error is
eliminated.
With more and more information available through a growing number of
devices connected to the internet, there are more opportunities for
companies to develop new business models, products, marketing
strategies, and engagement models for customers, employees, and
partners. However, this will only be possible for the organizations that
are able to use their information quickly and effectively. Excel
spreadsheets are not a reliable way to manage BI, reporting, and data
discovery in order to compete in the quickly changing market. Companies
need a comprehensive solution, including BI infrastructure, data
discovery tools, dashboards, and effective data visualizations that will
allow them to analyze and explore large sets of data.
Gartner makes the bold statement that “No business can afford to
ignore or underplay the impact of technology-driven disruptions that are
even transforming what it means to be a business in a digital world.”
Traditional BI is no longer enough; data discovery is now necessary to
remain competitive.
Comprehensive BI solutions that include data discovery and
dashboards, however, can require a large investment of both time and
money. Depending on the organization’s requirements and existing IT
infrastructure, investments in servers, storage, clients, and networking
may be necessary. Implementation, training, and administration also add
to the upfront costs. It is possible, however, to reduce the capital
expenditure needed for deployment with cloud services.
In addition to the up-front costs, BI tools will incur maintenance
costs and costs associated with enhancing and extending the application.
These costs usually far outweigh the up-front investment. In fact,
Gartner estimates that, for a business application that is used for 15
years, the average cost to go live is 8% of the total lifetime cost of
ownership. It is important to note that the Total Cost of Ownership
(TCO) is highly dependent on design decisions, and so it is important
for organizations to design the BI solution according to their needs
from the beginning, as this will affect, and could drastically reduce,
the maintenance and enhancing costs.
However, a BI solution will actually reduce operational costs.
Manual reporting can be almost eliminated or greatly reduced with a
comprehensive BI and dashboard solution. Each organization’s reporting
needs and subsequent savings will vary; however, organizations that
assign one analyst to each team can likely reduce the number of analysts
to one or just a few for the entire organization. Neo@Ogilvy, a Dundas
Data Visualization customer, used Excel to analyze and report on its
customers’ data. After implementing a BI solution, including a Dundas
powered dashboard, the organization saw their reporting time decrease by
90%.
There is mounting research that indicates organizations need a BI
solution that includes data discovery, dashboards, and data
visualization tools in order to use the ever-increasing amount of data
available and remain competitive in the market. With this evidence, the
question is, can you afford not to invest in BI?
The opportunity costs of avoiding a BI solution and continuing to
use Excel for reporting and data exploration will soon become apparent,
if they aren’t already. By continuing to use traditional BI tools
including static Excel reports instead of a data discovery solution,
companies aren’t able to aggregate all of their data and see the larger
trends. Managers and executives aren’t able to understand their data
easily and make fact-based decisions quickly. Organizations aren’t able
to harness and use data, an element that has, and will continue to
disrupt the way businesses run.
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