For professional services, business intelligence is a key driver of performance and growth. Data can be a vital differentiator that gives you the upper hand on your competition – if you know how to use it effectively.
Data was once only accessible via gatekeepers, and the tools for analysing and reporting on it were complex and unintuitive. In 2022, business intelligence is becoming easier to access, process, analyse and report on, allowing your whole team to benefit from data insights and adopt a more data driven approach.
Developments that make business intelligence more accessible to your wider team are set to transform how professional services operate, allowing for better decision making, more effective and efficient working, and increased value for clients.
SaaS and Cloud Adoption
Software as a service, meaning tech solutions that are often subscription based and accessed online as opposed to software that is installed directly onto your business’ hardware, means increased flexibility, security, and control of data for your business and your team.
SaaS and cloud-based working allows your team to work remotely and still access all the tools they need as well as accurate, up to date information. Scalability is also far simpler and gives you greater freedom to adapt your processes – you can easily scale your solution to suit your business needs.
With online and cloud-based solutions, developments and updates are automatically implemented, meaning the most up to date tools and solutions are at your fingertips. In 2022, we’re seeing powerful advanced features like process automation and data integration for better reporting.
Automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AI is facilitating significant improvements to efficiency and accuracy. With the automation of data processing tasks, time-consuming jobs are done in a matter of seconds, and creating reports is easier and uses more accurate data.
However, AI can do more than improve reporting; it can detect patterns in data and make predictions on what the future holds, allowing you to stay one step ahead and make plans for likely scenarios.
Decision making processes are also improved, as AI can be used in scenario analysis. By changing variables in your plans, you can see what is likely to happen to key metrics depending on different courses of action, allowing you to make informed and educated decisions, which can inform both short and long-term planning and business strategy.
Data Security and Data Governance
GDPR and other compliance requirements are as important as ever, and more professionals are adopting stronger processes to ensure that data is collected, stored, and deleted appropriately.
The use of cloud platforms to store data improves security, as it doesn’t rely on data storage being located at your place of work. With access to the data limited to authorised personnel only via portal logins, compliance with privacy and data security regulations is simplified.
Additionally, strong password and device security measures are being adopted to minimise the risk of data breaches and ensure compliance with regulations.
Data Integration
By integrating data from different sources into a shared data source, businesses are seeing considerable improvements to their operations and the value they deliver to their clients.
In decision making and analysis, data from different sources can be combined to draw out new insights and give new dimensions to decision making and strategic planning.
Data integration also removes silos from teams, allowing for a more joined-up way of working across the whole business. Everyone can access and is working with the same data, meaning more accurate processes, fewer crossed wires, better service, and more efficient working.
Data security is also improved with a single source of truth, as access authorisation is simplified, and security measures can be focused to a single data bank.
Self-service Data
Putting teams in charge of their own data insights, as opposed to only being able to access data via gatekeepers, is delivering major benefits to teams. By opening up access to business data, and making it easily understandable to everybody, insights come from the people working directly within that department, allowing for more responsive working.
Working in this way also helps to break down silos between teams, as everyone is able to access the same information and work from a shared source of truth.
NLP (natural language processing) helps to break down barriers for non-analysts, allowing everybody, regardless of their knowledge of the language and processes used around data analysis, to find and exploit the information they need.
We’re seeing potentially significant changes to how businesses run in 2022. At TSG, our experts can help you to create technology-based processes in your business that deliver significant benefits to both your teams and your clients.
Get in touch to see how we can help.
