The COVID-19 pandemic has brought novel and complex problems to businesses around the world.
With the introduction of social distancing policies and furlough schemes, organisations have had no choice but to try to accomplish more with less. Necessity being the mother of invention, many companies are addressing this problem by looking inwards to identify potential areas for optimisation.
And this has led to a growing realisation about the value of data and automation.
Data is your most valuable asset
The saying “data is your most valuable asset” has been gaining currency in recent years. However, in actual fact, this is only true to the extent that you are using data correctly.
Without context and understanding, data can simply be a meaningless set of numbers. You need the right combination of data visualisation tools and analytical expertise to transform data into information that can provide actionable insights for your business.
This is an area, in which today’s leading companies such as Google, Facebook, and Apple are capitalising. Yet small and medium enterprises (SME) have been surprisingly slow to embrace data-related initiatives and the clear value they provide.
Experience tells us that some of the biggest wins come from the lowest hanging fruits, especially to begin with. This is where we see SMEs being able to get returns quickly.
Automation is a must-have not a luxury
Historically, the benefits of automation have often been overlooked as a luxury that many can’t afford. However, recent developments have highlighted how critical it can be when resources are spread thin.
Automation adds an extra layer of security to business-critical tasks. Once implemented, these processes are no longer reliant on individuals who could leave due to being furloughed, retiring, or any other number of reasons. It also leads to more robust operations that are much less susceptible to human error.
Digital transformation is the way forward
Even as the world begins returning to normal, remote working will remain. In effect, a paradigm shift is unfolding before our very eyes. As a result of the global pandemic, the requisite tech, data, and digital practices are already in place to handle a more complex end-to-end ecosystem.
This is essential as there are more challenges for a decentralised workforce when it comes to communicating with colleagues through various mediums. Implementing dashboards provides significant value to businesses by streamlining data and document management while facilitating faster, more seamless communication.
Securing business-critical processes
The pandemic has underscored the areas where individuals are critical to business processes. The absence of people from the office has brought certain bottlenecks in business processes to light.
Addressing these areas of concern should be a top priority. It’s essential that your day-to-day operations don't have too many single points of failure (SPOF) by way of being reliant on the presence of individuals.
Through automation, you not only alleviate the reliance on key individuals, but you can also significantly increase efficiency. Reporting processes that once took weeks to complete can now be finished within hours or minutes.
And the result of this? A vast amount of business intelligence.
This goldmine of data facilitates strategic decision-making, which gives your business an edge in today’s fiercely competitive markets.
