Implementing an ERP package provides a wealth of new data. So much, in fact, that companies starting with it immediately face a luxury problem: what to do with all that information? Five developments to keep an eye on.
By 2020, nearly 1.7 megabytes of data will be generated every second in the world. So much more data than is actually used. In fact, at Logres we have the experience that more than 80% of the data generated is not used or hardly used.
So a key challenge is to separate the important data from the less important information and to give meaning to that data. The major trends in the world of Business Intelligence are all about that.
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AI is becoming more and more XAI
Artificial Intelligence has long been a trend in the world of business intelligence and ERP packages. More and more, the software thinks for the user and combines different data to give advice and take actions. The hallmark of this is that AI is very proactive: the software thinks for itself - so to speak.
However: although there are already many AI applications, they still seem to be hardly applied by users. This is because the decisions made by AI are still too often distrusted. After all, they cannot be controlled... How does my ERP package actually figure out that there is a sales opportunity here? Is it really true that we can save money the moment we bundle these orders?
Although many AI applications already exist, they still seem to be hardly applied by users. XAI aims to eliminate distrust.
XAI is now the latest trend and the answer to the aforementioned consumer distrust. XAI stands for explainable artificial intelligence, or explaining how artificial intelligence arrives at a particular outcome. 2020 will be the year when big steps are taken in this: your ERP package not only advises you: it also explains its advice better.
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Data quality management
Another way of trying to get a grip on the gigantic bulk of unused data is to have more focus on data quality.If data is not accurate, current, consistent and complete, it can lead to wrong decisions. Information technology company IBM has calculated that $3.1 trillion is lost each year in the U.S. alone due to poor data quality.Especially when various software packages are linked together, that conclusions are drawn based on data that actually should not have been combined.
It is precisely when various software packages are linked together that conclusions are sometimes drawn comparing apples to oranges.
Data quality management is the solution: managing data by people as well as by technical quality controls. In 2020, practical solutions for this will be introduced and more employees in large organizations will also be freed up for this important task.
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Actionable Analytics: a signal when you need to take action
One way to separate the important information from the non-important information is to sort it by "things I need to do something with." Or "things that need to be addressed now and things that can be addressed later."
In 2020, business intelligence software is going to help you with that. Actionable Analytics are reports that signal themselves when action is required. You can set those signals manually, but they can also be given proactively with AI.
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Data storytelling: the story behind the data
It matters enormously how data is presented. If you're looking at rows of tables, it's important to know what those tables are telling you right now.
Is it going well? Are things not going well? What trends are visible? What actions are desired and how should certain outliers be explained? Companies have realized that dashboards-figures alone make no sense unless they are accurately contextualized and can be interpreted.
In 2020, data storytelling will become increasingly important. Management will base decisions less and less on rows of numbers, but more and more on the story told about them: the management summary. Of course, that story must then be accurate. In 2020, software is going to assist you with the story that needs to be told.
Management will base decisions less and less on rows of numbers, but more and more on the story told about them.
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Data discovery enriched with data visualization
2020 Will be the year for data discovery companies like Qlik from Qlik Sense. These companies specialize in pulling data from various sources and presenting it in reports, dashboards and other views.
Among the enormous bulk of data, there is an increasing need for systems that show visually (attractively) what is happening in a company. Every employee should see only the information he or she needs, and it should be clear at a glance what the retrieved data is trying to tell you.
There is an increasing demand for systems that can visualize data attractively.
Compiling these reports yourself should be child's play, and the system should make suggestions when it comes to what information should be shown in a particular report.
Analyzing data is one thing, but interpreting data and learning from it is another. Those who not only have a lot of data, but also know how to leverage it are the winners in 2020!
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Need an overview? We have extensive experience in visualizing and combining data from various systems. Make an appointment with one of our consultants to hear what is possible with the data your company has captured.
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