Medium sized companies looking to break through into the big league can be ably assisted through the application of targeted business intelligence solutions.
That`s the opinion of Angelique Hutley, Cognos product manager at Synergy Computing, the specialist provider of Cognos-based business intelligence (BI) solutions within the black owned Sekunjalo Group of companies. She says it can play a strategic role in assisting medium sized companies to break into the enterprise space by helping to drive sales by optimizing the management of this critical activity.
She says that while the focus of analysis solutions often falls on the financials alone, it should also encompass the area of sales which tends to be less well managed.
"BI is often viewed as a solution that only has a place in the enterprise; however, such measures should start when a company is a lot smaller - and since the financials are often very well managed, the best place to start is often on the sales processes which are responsible for generating the company`s income," she says.
An effective sales-focused BI solution can help businesses to examine their customer bases to see where and how sales are made, tracking trends and realities without consuming an inordinate amount of executive time. "Issues such as customer churn can be identified and managed, customer purchasing behaviour can be analysed over time and anomalies identified - the intelligence of an effective solution delivers tangible value to the business that can be acted upon to maximize profitability," says Hutley.
Growing businesses tend to lack accurate or thorough intelligence on the sales processes. In many instances, says Hutley, the tool of choice to manage the various aspects of sales - promotions, stock, items, customer purchasing habits and more - is a spreadsheet.
However, she draws attention to the limitations of such tools: "Spreadsheets are incredibly useful tools but they can also create serious problems particularly in a business with needs that go beyond their capabilities. For example, when it comes to data entry and integrity, the need for manual intervention results in many mistakes being made," she says.
The term `Spreadsheet-hell` is commonly heard when such tools begin to sprawl into an unmanageable mess of complicated user-defined formulae, difficult to interpret data presentation and a low level of security. Rather, says Hutley, organisations should consider a BI solution that provides accurate, up to date information that can be rapidly understood and acted upon.
But, she notes that many businesses are reluctant to make the move to an enterprise ready BI solution. "There is a perception that these solutions are prohibitively costly and have long deployment cycles - that is not entirely true," she says.
By focusing on specific areas of the business, modular solutions designed to address immediate issues can be rapidly established. "Solution deployment timeframes can be as short as two to three months and the investment can be recouped in as little as six months to a year. Sure, BI will cost money, but the value that the business gains in terms of stimulating sales and growing the business can be considerable," Hutley concludes.
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