How to Boost Efficiency Through Data-driven Analysis.

Preparing businesses for an automated future.

The global pandemic rapidly accelerated society’s digital transformation; businesses had little choice but to innovate at speed. According to Salesforce, 71% of growing companies say that they survived this period through digitisation, which expedited business agility and efficiency whilst increasing productivity and revenue.

Our new digital business models mean data – a lot of data. 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created every day. That staggering amount of information has never been more important when making operational decisions. As we move towards a world of automation, AI and augmented intelligence, it is the businesses that embrace data-driven decision abilities that will thrive. 

What are the leading digital businesses doing right?

Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft have all seen a fivefold market cap increase in the last five years. But what is the primary reason behind their success? They all analyse their expansive data resources and use that insight to inform their business monetisation strategy.

You might think it’s easy for tech giants to lead the pack when it comes to digital transformation. Yet, the use of data to generate valuable insight and drive action is transferable across all industries. The digitalisation of Domino’s Pizza has seen its stock price increase from $3 in 2008 to over $550 by late 2021. By tracking every stage of the customer order and providing an AI-powered feedback platform, they created a feedback loop that supplies a vast amount of experience and transactional data. And this data allows the food delivery service to monitor and optimise everything from product marketing to franchise performance.

Advanced digital technologies are driving internal departmental efficiencies too. According to Forbes, more than 25% of companies use automation within their HR department. It has also been forecast that by the end of 2022, 70% of customer service communications will involve some form of automated technology.

Demand for workflow automation processes is expected to rise to $26 billion by 2025; increasing from just $5 bn in 2018^**. Data will undoubtedly provide the foundation for the next generation of digital businesses; automation and AI will determine the success of future strategies.

What are the benefits of automation technologies?

Automation and AI may sound a little futuristic, but it is nothing new. Robotic technologies have taken care of mundane, routine tasks for many years.

Employees need not be concerned about AI technology replacing their role, but see it as an essential business tool that will make their lives easier, faster and safer. In fact, research by McKinsey & Company reported that only 5% of job roles could be fully automated. Autonomous processes will free up considerable time, leaving employees to focus on strategically driving the business forwards.

Stakeholders can take months to make collective strategic decisions, whereas tailored algorithms draw hundreds of thousands of conclusions in seconds, helping businesses respond to market changes at speed. Eradicating the potential for human error, combining analysis, automation, and AI can dramatically improve insight, decision pace, accuracy and provide evidence-based answers to business questions.

Automation optimises any corporation’s most valuable resource – their team. Technological collaboration and frictionless workflows empower your team to reach new levels of performance, streamlining everyday processes and boosting productivity – along with the business’s bottom line.

As you might imagine, tedious or repetitive tasks are ideally suited for automation processes, connecting the dots in high volumes. The latest automation technologies are capable of far more than simply eliminating repetitive tasks. Today, they can perform cognitive processes, making objective data-driven decisions in record time with exceptional accuracy.

Preparing for an automated future.

Whilst digital technologies provide substantial operational benefits, transitioning from ad-hoc stakeholder decision-making towards an autonomous decision-making model is a process.

If you are like the majority of businesses moving towards greater digitalisation, it is likely that you operate using processes and workflows that have been created in response to a particular need at a point in time — but these are rarely reviewed. They may have even been designed and implemented by a specific individual who left the company long ago.

Finding out where you are on your digital transformation journey is an essential first step. An IT audit or digital maturity assessment  will ensure you understand business-critical processes that could simply work better, improve cost-efficiency and optimise productivity.

Regardless of the industry or sector, it is vital to keep in mind that every business is unique. Automation demands accuracy, therefore a uniform, ‘one size fits all’ approach to  cannot provide the best results. Digitisation solutions should be tailored specifically to the exact needs of the individual business, paying explicit attention to operational differences.

Weeding out inefficiencies. 

Inefficiency is a silent drain on business performance. If left undetected, it can be a considerable barrier to success. By resolving ineffective, wasteful or outdated practices, you can substantially increase revenue and perform at a level you never thought was achievable.      

Most businesses operate multiple legacy systems or cloud-based applications that don’t integrate well. However, new data analysis techniques, such as process mining, can reveal inefficiencies, negative patterns and process bottlenecks that would be impossible for a human to identify. 

Process mining collates and analyses data from event logs across an organisation to provide a 360-view of all processes, technologies, systems and people. By mapping sequences within a workflow measuring time, flow, adherence and cost parameters, we can identify points of failure. Platforms like Celonis and ServiceNow then turns that data into actionable insights that facilitate fast, effective and highly accurate c-suite decisions to optimise performance — making information one of the most effective business tools a modern corporation can have in their armoury.

Data is captured and analysed in real-time, providing an almost instant and ongoing insight. Process mapping provides an easy-to-interpret visual representation of what needs to be improved, removed or automated, ensuring businesses remain competitive and ahead of the curve.

Experiences drive improvement. 

Monitoring your business quantitatively unquestionably delivers insight that drives effective action. However, without the feedback loop, you miss the complementary qualitative data – a huge part of the story, which has undeniably contributed to Domino’s success.  

Whilst businesses have traditionally favoured Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to track efficiency, these only provide a snapshot of a single point in time. By measuring employee or customer satisfaction throughout the entire journey, using an Experience Level Agreement (XLA), you gain a far more comprehensive view. Responsively acting upon  challenges or issues raised, can vastly improve experience and effectiveness . Involving your end-users not only makes them feel valued and respected, but by seeing a fuller picture, you can adjust targets and your business strategy accordingly. 

For example, an SLA might show that a team has completed a high number of tasks. But, if performed poorly or the experience was complicated or stressful, it’s a negative company outcome. Employee satisfaction and empowerment is one of the most significant influences on your team’s commitment, loyalty, work ethic and therefore, productivity.

The changing nature of work and the shift towards remote or hybrid structures has dramatically reduced human interaction and therefore the ability for business leaders to spot issues that could lead to workforce inefficiencies. Consequently, workplace XLAs are proving of significant and increasing importance, providing meaningful insight for transformative business success.

The future of our digital businesses.

We are in the middle of a digital revolution; our rapid progression of using advanced technologies is greater than at any other point in our history. And this digitalisation depends on data and data-driven decisions. 

Although navigating the digital revolution and working towards autonomous decision-making can seem daunting, the agility and responsiveness afforded by the innovative analytical technologies available will maximise ROI, boost productivity, workforce satisfaction and customer loyalty.

By using a strategic combination of process analysis, data mining and XLAs, organisations can create a robust roadmap for process-driven, evidence-based improvements that bring all departments together to work collaboratively.

And, by identifying inefficiencies, bottlenecks and deviations from processes along with areas for automation, we can build resilience and a solid digital foundation to future-proof businesses as they scale. In the not-too-distant future, the companies that combine analysis, automation and AI will lead the way, leaving those who rely on human decision making behind.

Providing the essential building blocks for your organisation’s digital transformation, Digital Clarity employ the latest data mining techniques and experience analysis to enable frictionless workflows, helping your team work smarter, not harder.

If you are ready to start your digital transformation journey, our free of charge personalised consultation is tailored to the specific needs of your business. 
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