Uncover Real Business Insights

If you’re like us, you are probably collecting data from a number of different sources, but are you getting the whole story from your data?  Here’s how to uncover real business insights.

7 Signs you’re not getting the whole story from your data

1) You dread the question “Why?”

Business Insights #1

Source: “Learning from the New Breed of Confident Decision Makers.” Harvard Business Review, 2014.

A common scenario with many companies is that their data only provides the “What?” and not the “Why?” With the Qlik solution, QGate can help you to make accurate comparisons and drill down to get answers to questions you didn’t know you had.

Thanks to QlikView, Lucketts Travel can gain real business insights into their data.

“We’ve been tracking the vehicles for about 14 years but initially we didn’t really know what to do with the information,” says Ian Luckett, Managing Director at Lucketts Travel, “Now we use it in all kinds of ways, for example by using websites to discover if jobs are available where our coaches end up so that vehicles don’t always travel back empty.”

2) You have gaps in your data

You have gaps in your data

Source: “Data Management for BI: Getting Accurate Decisions from Big Data.” Aberdeen Group, January 2013.

Often it’s the data that you don’t have that comprises your business insights. Most Business Intelligence (BI) tools show only subsets of information, leaving big gaps in what you actually discover.

The Qlik solution is “associative” meaning that it “works as you think”. Unlike other BI tools that provide a linear approach, Qlik turns questions around and looks for the opposite, the excluded. It brings together all of your data from multiple sources, maps it and automatically maintains associations in the data creating a cohesive and intuitive view of the business.

3) Lack of centralised data

Lack of centralised data

Source: “The Well Oiled Data Machine”. Experian Data Quality 2014.

With most BI tools, different users can manipulate the same data and then separately perform their own analysis creating a multitude of conflicting versions of dashboards and reports.

The Qlik solution centralises your data so that it is always universally updated and governed giving you the peace of mind that you are making smart business decisions based on accurate data.

4) Time-to-Insight is too long

Time-to-insight is too long

Source: ” The Digital Universe of Opportunities.” IDC, April 2014.

Whether you are using a traditional BI tool or manually importing and manipulating data from multiple sources, this can be a timely and costly process.

In comparison, the Qlik solution uses real-time data to produce automated reports within minutes enabling you to make smart choices and not having to rely on other departments like IT.

5) External data isn’t making it into your mix

external data isn't making it into your mix

Source: “Learning from the New Breed of Confident Decision Makers.” Harvard Business Review, 2014.

If your current BI tool doesn’t integrate with external data in a user-friendly way, you could be missing valuable insights. The Qlik solution enables you to integrate data from multiple internal and external sources providing you with a single view of your business.

Thanks to QlikView, Norad Travel can now access real-time information across the entire business.

“QlikView provides data in the level of detail and in the format required by the business,” Says Tara Foy, Financial Controller at Norad Travel, “we are now able to view all their data in Sterling with the conversion rates being handled within the script of QlikView.”

6) Reliance on IT experts

Reliance on IT experts

Source: “Learning from the New Breed of Confident Decision Makers.” Harvard Business Review, 2014.

With many BI tools, business users have to rely on the skills of the IT department to generate dashboards and create reports. This can cause unnecessary workload for the IT department and out of data analysis for the business, the user to make decisions on.

The Qlik solution not only puts all your data in one place but allows your business users to access what they need, when they need, where they need it. With the ability to create mobile applications, your business users can access live data and analysis providing complete business visibility even if they are out of the office.

With Qlik’s real-time applications and dashboards, managers across all LUSH stores have access to a live sales platform.

“QlikView has helped LUSH deliver a central point for live data analysis, contributing to savings of over £1 million in stock loss within 2 years, “explains Scott Silverthorn, Head of Data Services at LUSH. “It’s working with us as a business in giving our people instant access to the information they want and allowing them to find that information very quickly and easily online.”

7) Your “fresh” data has already expired

Your "fresh" data has already expired

Source: “Raw Data Cleaning is Killing BI”. Xplenty 2015.

If it is taking you weeks to deliver reports, the data is already outdated when you finally get it.

QGate has been developing products to eliminate duplicate data issues for 15 years, so you know we have the knowledge and expertise to get your data into fighting shape for the best possible BI implementation.

 

 

Want to know more?

If you’re thinking of starting a Business Intelligence project, you may be feeling a bit overwhelmed. QGate’s team of experts will be on your side every step of the way through your BI project. We have the knowledge and expertise to help you plan what you want from your data and are advocates of getting to really know your business and work as one team to uncover true business insights into your data.

With a wealth of untapped insights at your fingertips, get in touch for advice on how to get the real story from your data.

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