{"id":33669,"date":"2019-09-12T12:10:17","date_gmt":"2019-09-12T11:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/?p=33669"},"modified":"2019-09-12T12:10:19","modified_gmt":"2019-09-12T11:10:19","slug":"five-ways-to-future-proof-your-organisation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/2019\/09\/12\/five-ways-to-future-proof-your-organisation\/","title":{"rendered":"Five ways to future-proof your organisation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Laura Timms Product Strategy Manager at MHR Analytics, discusses how to future-proof a business and why it is necessary to evolve from a ‘hindsight mentality’. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An uncertain business climate doesn\u2019t have to mean uncertainty in your business, says data analytics expert, Laura Timms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite complex\nchallenges on the horizon, the wide availability and adaptability of data\nanalytics means managers can take proactive steps to futureproof their\norganisations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Product Strategy Manager at MHR Analytics, the business intelligence and financial performance management provider, Timms sets out five ways companies can harness data analytics to thrive in tough times and plan confidently for 2020 and beyond:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Reduce unnecessary expenses <\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    A key part of\npreparing for the future is watching what we spend now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Deciding where\nto cut funding can easily be left down to intuition rather than truly\nunderstanding key and \u2018not so key\u2019 revenue drivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In Deloitte\u2019s Analytics\nAdvantage<\/em> report, revenue generation or cost reduction was reported to be\nthe most valued outcome of using analytics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    How? By aligning budgets and resources, funds can be redeployed to meet critical objectives and lower costs. Taking this approach, we recently helped one of our customers deliver savings which equated to a return on investment of 250%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Analytics acts as a strategic tool which can be used to give insight into areas such as investment opportunities, financial performance and key financial drivers; to give managers peace of mind that resources are always allocated in the right place, at the right time.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2. From hindsight to foresight \u2013 see and respond to changes in real-time<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Organisations\nthat are able to respond to changes quickly are better equipped for success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    As Mckinsey laid out in its five trademarks of agile organisations: ‘Technology is seamlessly integrated and core to every aspect of the organisation as a means to unlock value and enable quick reactions to business needs’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    To future-proof a business, it is necessary to evolve from a ‘hindsight mentality’ that tries to accompany change once it\u2019s already happened; to an approach that identifies and responds to changes as they happen in the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This is where\nanalytics comes in. Business intelligence and analytics technology can provide\na real-time view of an organisation so that employees can easily adapt systems\nto changing business strategies and realities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    With analytics, businesses can provide products and services that meet changing customer requirements, match outputs to available resources and ultimately make smarter decisions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    3. Scenario modelling to plan for different possible outcomes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    There are two\ntypes of organisations: those that are reactive and those that are proactive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    While reactive\nbusinesses simply try and diffuse an already burning fire, proactive\norganisations identify the risk factors involved and question not only what\nthey need to do to prevent the fire, but also whether there are any hidden risks\nor opportunities accompanying the disaster. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The good news is that even for those that currently fall under the first category, data analytics can easily change this.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Certain analytics technologies provide scenario planning capabilities, which enable managers to model different potential scenarios and outcomes. This can supercharge the effectiveness of decision making, as it provides front-row seats to see how different decisions will impact the organisation \u2013 all without having to commit to one particular course of action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When this scenario modelling is ‘multi-dimensional’, you can see how change in one area of the business will impact on other areas, to ensure the whole business is optimised for success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Whether it\u2019s a change in legislation, cuts in funding or changes to company structure \u2013 managers can plan and prepare in advance and reduce the risk of any nasty surprises. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    4. Free up more time to spend on what matters<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Chances are,\nbusinesses that are not using analytics to carry out their planning are\nprobably relying solely on spreadsheets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Think of the number of different spreadsheets in your department alone and think of how many hours are spent in a typical week updating these – the answer is probably too many. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    While\nspreadsheets are widely seen as the building blocks of planning, relying on\nspreadsheets alone is neither a reliable or efficient way of preparing for the\nfuture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Repetitive\nadministration tasks can hold companies back and are not always necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A better\napproach may be to utilise a \u2018planning analytics\u2019 solution to reduce these\ntime-consuming jobs and simplify planning, budgeting and forecasting processes.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This eradicates\nthe need for data input-led roles and allows the costs associated with these\npositions to be better utilised in higher-value tasks. Not only does this\nprovide financial benefits in terms of ROI, but it also works to the advantage\nof employees by allowing them to focus on \u2018what they\u2019re trained to do\u2019 over\nroutine tasks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Ultimately, analytics frees up more time to spend on the initiatives that really matter, positioning organisations in the best place to meet objectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    5. Full organisational view of planning<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Without a holistic picture of the organisation, it\u2019s impossible to safeguard it against future changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    While localised\nplanning limited to individual departments and teams may be convenient, it\ndoesn\u2019t offer the scale of impact needed for success. To truly prepare for the\nfuture, the whole organisation has to be on board. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Another\ndownside of relying on spreadsheets alone to plan is that they\u2019re simply not\ndesigned to tell the whole story. With different teams using different\nspreadsheets, input methods and analysis techniques, and little collaboration\nbetween this data, the task of collating and making sense of it isn\u2019t an easy\none. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    On top of this, manually inputting data into Excel documents leaves room for human error, with various studies even suggesting that almost 9 out of 10 spreadsheets contain errors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Planning\nanalytics software puts all this sporadic data into one centralised place to\ngive a 360-degree view of an organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Through\nthis, you\u2019ll be able to see and understand your business at a granular level so\nthat you can gain early insight into the health of your organisation and plan\nwith confidence. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Laura Timms Product Strategy Manager at MHR Analytics, discusses how to future-proof a business and why it is necessary to evolve from a ‘hindsight mentality’. An uncertain business climate doesn\u2019t have to mean uncertainty in your business, says data analytics expert, Laura Timms. Despite complex challenges on the horizon, the wide availability and adaptability of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":33670,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1489,93],"tags":[5406,13393,11992],"class_list":["post-33669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insights","category-top-stories","tag-analytics","tag-laura-timms","tag-mhr-analytics"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33669"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33671,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33669\/revisions\/33671"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/eu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}