The rise of big data is being pushed by a confluence of consumer, cloud and social technologies. Individuals can now use mobile technologies to access crucial knowledge on the go and to make the type of quick decisions that equal the difference between success and failure in a tight economy.

But there is an area where quick decision-making is even more important. So important, in fact, that it could really make the difference between life and death. While business analytics software is often associated with financial information, such as turnover, sales and outstanding debt, big data is increasingly being used in healthcare for the delivery of smarter patient care.

With the impending NHS cuts looming large, public sector executives will have to use analytics to make tough decisions about how smaller budgets can be spent increasingly wisely. The need for big data in healthcare, then, just got bigger.

And the figures can be startling. Evidence from consultant McKinsey (see further reading, below) suggests that the United States healthcare sector could create more than $300bn in value every year by using big data creatively to drive efficiency and quality. The good news is that leading edge organisations in the UK are already taking action to make the most of big data with regards to smarter patient care.

Take NHS Wakefield District, which has invested in a comprehensive business intelligence (BI) solution from Advanced Business Solutions (Advanced). Since introducing Advanced’s technology in January 2010, NHS Wakefield District has been able to cut hours from the generation of critical, decision-supporting reports.

Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust has more recently invested in flexible business intelligence and data warehousing technologies from Advanced Business Solutions. An Integrated Information Centre is planned to go-live in early 2013 and will enable the Trust to enhance the services it delivers to 1.6 million people.

So, healthcare organisations in the UK are already looking at how analytics can improve patient care delivery. With the amount of data being generated only set to increase, the decision to implement analytics technologies now will help Trusts embrace future challenges with confidence.

Further reading:

http://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/publications/big_data/

Being smart about patient care delivery is a post from Advanced Business Solutions - Supplier of accounting software, business intelligence and document managment

Research suggests that public sector finance professionals are still reliant on generic spreadsheets for budgeting and forecasting processes, despite specialist systems being available that can help provide a real-time view on spending.

As much as 88% of public sector finance executives admit they are reliant on spreadsheets for their budgeting processes according to research from Advanced Business Solutions, with almost three quarters (74%) stating they are very reliant.

The dependence on spreadsheets is even more concerning in the context of the ongoing demand for efficiency savings. Public sector organisations are under severe pressure to do more with less, yet finance professionals waste too much time updating spreadsheet information.

Using spreadsheets is manually intensive and relies heavily on user input. The result is that as much as 42% of finance executives responding to the ABS survey concede that it currently takes their organisation more than 45 working days to compile its annual budgets.

There has to be a better way, both in terms of workplace processes and taxpayer expenditure. Thankfully, there is in the form of dedicated budgeting, planning and forecasting tools.

Such an automated system ensures staff resources are not wasted on repetitive data entry and information checking processes. These real-time, intelligent financial processing tools decrease preparation time, increase financial control and provide more accurate data that can help improve decision-making.

ABS research shows just 10% of senior finance executives never use spreadsheets for formulating their organisation’s budgets and forecasts. For the remaining 90%, the confluence of severe cost constraint and high quality automation means a wake up is required.

While using spreadsheets can’t exactly be viewed as sleeping on the job, a reliance on such cumbersome tools is a way to slumber towards inefficient cost control and monitoring. Get automated and get the right tools for the job. It will be money well spent.

Automate your budgeting and forecasting is a post from Advanced Business Solutions - Supplier of accounting software, business intelligence and document managment

IT is likely to be one of the business’ priority areas. All organisations now rely on technology to help deliver services and products to customers, whether it’s healthcare and education in the public sector or financial reports and retail goods in the private sector.

TechTarget’s 2011 IT Priorities Survey (see further reading, below) reveals that 60 per cent of IT departments will spend more on software this year. In particular, the drive to improve planning means 41 per cent of IT leaders cite business intelligence (BI), analytics and data warehousing as a key 2011 initiative.

So, why will BI be so important in 2011 and how will it help your business to meet new targets? The key reason is knowledge – analytics helps organisations to monitor and understand big data sets, providing the right information to key executives at the right time.

The organisations that succeed in the upturn will be those that know, and engage with their customers. In an ever-competitive global economy, access to real-time data will mean your organisation is better prepared to deal efficiently with subtle changes in demand.

It’s not just about efficiency, either. Continued pressure in the public sector, and a raft of private sector regulations around finance and sustainability, will mean organisations must be able to show how data is held and used.

With an increasing number of cloud-based BI solutions becoming apparent, there has never been a better – and more cost-effective – opportunity to introduce analytics. On-demand BI will not just provide key information to executives; it will also provide a quick return on investment for the cost-conscious finance director.

With such gains, for so small an outlay, what is there to lose? The organisations that win in 2011 will be those that understand the power of information.

Further reading:

http://searchcio.techtarget.com/news/2240028337/IT-budgets-priorities-returning-to-health-in-2011).

2011 is all about business intelligence is a post from Advanced Business Solutions - Supplier of accounting software, business intelligence and document managment

Take this year as a starting point. The projected amount of digital information created in 2010 will be 1.2 million zettabytes which is equivalent to a full-length episode of TV series “24″ running continuously for 125 million years, according to research from IDC and EMC (see further reading, below).

Such figures are amusing but almost impossible to fully comprehend. And without the means to track, trace and interpret information, the results of such an information explosion for your business could be tremendous.

Gartner’s report concludes that, with the proliferation of mobile devices, collaborative technologies and social media, the quantity and variety of digital data will continue to grow. While managing this information is a challenge, it also presents a remarkable opportunity.

By putting the right foundations in place for managing and analysing your data, your organisation will be more able to make data-driven decisions moving forward.

Business intelligence, for example, can pull together an organisation’s data to provide a single version of the truth, allowing executives to make timely decisions based upon a consistent view of data from across the organisation.

Other corporate performance management tools, such as forecasting and planning software, also help organisations to work smarter whilst aiding decision making. With forecasting and planning, for instance, organisations can plan and model scenarios before making data-driven decisions.

The fast pace of IT development means that the number of data sources is only likely to increase and so it’s key to leverage this data for the benefit of the organisation. Ultimately, successful analytics is about creating an effective partnership between IT and the business; make sure you have the right tools in place to make this happen.

Further reading:
http://www.fiercegovernmentit.com/press-releases/gartners-2010-hype-cycle-special-report-evaluates-maturity-1-800-technologies

http://www.securityweek.com/content/emc-digital-universe-data-growth-study-projects-nearly-45-fold-annual-data-growth-2020

Enabling data-driven decisions is a post from Advanced Business Solutions - Supplier of accounting software, business intelligence and document managment

Maybe it has got something to do with maintenance. Ask for perceptions of such functions and many employees immediately think HR exists simply to help serve core business operations, such as finance, sales and purchasing.

It would be anathema to suggest finance is a second rate service that is not crucial to the business. So, why is it OK to simply write-off HR as a second tier service? In short, it is not – and your business is likely to miss out if you take such a blinkered view.

Tough economic conditions mean organisations, particularly in the hard-hit public sector, will be looking to cut costs. Staff reductions are often seen as the first, rather than the last, resort – meaning the HR function is regarded as a means to handing out redundancy notices.

But how can the business know it is cutting the right people? And should it really be cutting people anyway? The answers to such complicated questions can only be provided though a more strategic HR department.

Such a position relies on HR contributing to boardroom debates, something that is often missing in large organisations. Providing such a meaningful focus will rely on clear analysis and reporting.

HR, therefore, needs to take responsibility for facts and figures covering a host of crucial areas, such as productivity output, training value, absenteeism rates and engagement levels.

Corporate performance management – HR-focused business intelligence that includes methods and metrics – will provide the type of detailed analytics that will help HR directors and managers illustrate organisational success.

The right tools will allow you to share HR information across the business. And with the right information to hand, HR directors will be able to take their rightful place at the top table and provide an extremely valuable contribution.

No longer just a service, HR needs to be seen as a strategic function that helps the organisation prove that people really are its most valuable asset.

Is the HR function perceived as having a real impact in the boardroom? is a post from Advanced Business Solutions - Supplier of accounting software, business intelligence and document managment

The reason is often a failure to match organisational expectations and realities. The fluidity of modern economics means that line-of-business executives are likely to require point solutions as demands evolve.

New functionality for different areas, such as budgeting, forecasting, document management and business intelligence, will be required at different times. Fail to think ahead when you create an all-encompassing ERP system and your enterprise software approach will quickly stagnate.

While the organisation might not require detailed analytics and document management at the moment, fast-changing priorities could mean increased knowledge and more streamlines processes become essential within a short two or three year timeframe. As such, your ERP system must be future-proofed.

The bottom line is that flexibility to meet changing business demands must be a priority for IT leaders that are implementing ERP technology.

Further reading

http://www.managingautomation.com/maonline/exclusive/read/ERP_Market_to_Resume_Growth_27755809

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/projectfailures/erp-failure-new-research-and-statistics/8253

Growing your ERP solution with your business is a post from Advanced Business Solutions - Supplier of accounting software, business intelligence and document managment

However, now is not the time for complacency; positive signs are no excuse for a lack of attention to detail. Businesses that take time to heave a huge sigh of relief will see fast-moving rivals quickly pass their organisation.

Now, then, is the time to learn from our experiences and to turn lessons into action. More than ever before, the recession has pushed attention on to leading executives, who are expected to closely monitor spending and produce a quick return on investment (ROI).

The focus on value will prove invaluable during the recovery, where a tight focus on operational expenditure will help create more funds for innovation. Many IT leaders will have spent the last 12 months avoiding new IT spending – that is now simply not an option.

Sweated assets will need refreshing and smart technology chiefs will find ways to make the best of innovative systems. Creating a strategy that proves a quick ROI will show that lessons learnt from the recession have been heeded.

Corporate performance management (CPM), encompassing business intelligence (BI) systems, should be at the top of your agenda, providing a combination of analysis, planning and reporting.

BI software will help you to measure key performance indicators that will prove the true value of IT initiatives. It will also enable company-wide reports on the achievements and status of specific projects, departments and product lines, for example.

Like all innovations, business intelligence needs to demonstrate value. Success is not a given – research from analyst IDC shows that while 53% of users believe investment in BI has delivered an ROI, as much as 32% are unsure and 15% suggest it has not.

Make sure you select the right tools and partners to help you prove the business benefits of BI as well as IT in general. Get innovation right and the business will see that good things can indeed emerge from a recession.

Now is the time to invest in innovation that demonstrates a clear ROI is a post from Advanced Business Solutions - Supplier of accounting software, business intelligence and document managment

The reason is clear. With limited cash to spend on new IT, CIOs must prove to the business that technology can provide a quick return on investment.

Business intelligence (BI) scores at two levels: first, it can help executives understand the success of business initiatives; second, it can help IT leaders prove the value of technology spending.

Both levels will be significant as business expectations of IT continue to shift. Evidence comes from analyst Gartner, whose 2010 CIO survey suggests businesses are keen to invest in services-based and social media technologies.

These two areas are fast developing, and hyped, areas of IT development. Businesses looking to emerge stronger from the downturn will need to bet on the right horse; invest at the wrong time and you are likely to waste the wager.

It is, therefore, surprising to see that BI – which was the number one technology area in Gartner’s priority list for the past five years – has dropped to number five. So, is this the end for business intelligence?

No, far from it – your work in BI is still far from done and 2010 will be the year this software comes of age. The detailed analytics provided through the right BI platform will prove crucial in cash constrained circumstances.

Executives will be expecting to lead their business successfully from the downturn, taking advantage of the upturn as new opportunities arise. Analytical software will help senior leaders to identify these openings.

The need for detailed information means CIOs will still pay for BI. While spending on IT dropped by 5.2% in 2009, Gartner expects investment in BI, analytics and performance management to rise by 8.1% through 2013.

When it comes to investing in BI, act with care. Look for an organisation that can provide a broad spectrum of services and systems. Just like the relationship between IT and finance, alignment with your BI partner is everything.

The bottom line is that a deeper understanding of reporting, planning and performance is keep if your business is to make informed and timely decisions.

Business intelligence comes of age is a post from Advanced Business Solutions - Supplier of accounting software, business intelligence and document managment

From electronic data interchange (EDI) to customer relationship management (CRM), IT directors were keen to talk up the importance of their latest three-letter acronym-based project. Top of these initiatives came enterprise resource planning (ERP), an all-encompassing approach to resource management.

Nowadays, chats with technology chiefs are much more likely to encompass a series of important themes rather than acronyms. CIOs are eager to tell you about their alignment with the business, their sensitivity to sustainability and their awareness of social media.

But what about enterprise architecture; is no one spending a lot on huge ERP implementations anymore? The simple, and rather confusing answer, is no – and yes.

The last 12 months-or-so have been incredibly tough for IT. ERP has been identified as a potential source of cost savings, with researcher IDC reporting that 21% of firms’ spending would be lower or much lower in 2009 than 2008.

That’s a big drop. But the figures also mean that the vast majority of IT leaders have not cut deep into ERP spending. More worryingly, many businesses are tied to extremely costly projects.

Some estimates suggest the average American worker is paid about $47,000 a year and yet the average business incurs approximately $12,000 annual ERP expenses for each worker. Something, somewhere, is clearly wrong.

Why, in a cost-conscious market, are many executives still choosing to implement all-encompassing and cost-consuming ERP implementations? Surely – in an age of service orientation, on-demand computing and flexibility – businesses should be thinking differently about enterprise resource planning?

Rather than being tied to a big-name implementation from a big-name, global vendor, executives should work to select components that meet specific business demands.

Scalable and flexible, such components can be easily integrated into the enterprise architecture. The business can then implement financial, human resource, business intelligence and document management functionality as the need arises, reducing total cost of ownership and reducing reliance on huge ERP systems.

The past might have been about big ERP implementations but the future is all about flexibility.

Why are businesses still opting for huge ERP implementations? is a post from Advanced Business Solutions - Supplier of accounting software, business intelligence and document managment

Did we win because we were more engaged, or did our winning make us more engaged? I think that this lies at the heart of a lot of the frustration that HR professionals currently feel.  They see Rolls Royce companies such as Diageo, Astra Zeneca and, oh, Rolls Royce being held up as shining lights that have ‘got’ this engagement thing. They see the ‘compelling’ evidence that those companies that were in the top engagement quartile were 12% more profitable and 18% more productive and had earnings per share 2.6 the level of those below the 50th percentile. So why is the Board not falling over themselves to adopt an engagement strategy?  It boils down, in my mind , to whether you are seeing the cause or the effect?  Believe me, in a lot of the teams I played in no matter how engaged we were, we would still have been rubbish.

So let’s get back to first principles. Peter Druker, whose centenary it is this year, said that a business is “defined by the want the customer satisfies when he or she buys a product or a service.  To satisfy the customer is the mission and purpose of every business”.   When customers stop wanting horse drawn buggies or gas lamps or video players, no matter how good we are at it and how engaged our staff are we will be out of business.  To achieve the function of a business we assemble people, land and capital and we do this in the best possible way to deliver to those customers.

Having said all of this, let me be clear,  engagement is important, but not as an abstract concept.  Here HR professionals have to work with their colleagues in other functional areas such as sales and marketing and production.  If your organisation wants to be more innovative because this will better serve your customers with the products and services that they need then we can use engagement measures as part of the executive dashboard.  There is a narrative that the executive team will understand and which can be tested.  Let us say that our customers want new products at lower prices but with higher quality.  We can measure all of these things.  How many new products we release, whether they are variations or whether they are standalone new products.  What price points we are able to achieve and what are the levels of quality.  And so on.

Now measure engagement.  Don’t over do the measurements at first.  Why not start with the question that Dr Jim Hartner of Gallup and Dr Frank Schmidt of the University of Iowa found to have the most effective correlation to performance, “At work, do you have an opportunity to do what you do best everyday?”  Then drill into the data. Is there a correlation between areas of high engagement and the outputs that the organisation wishes to achieve?  If there is, then get to understand that specific area better. Is there a causation? What is driving that difference?  Is it better and more appropriate leadership? Or do the people there have a better understanding of what they are supposed to be doing, or have better information or understand how they fit into the overall scheme of things?

Then, put a value on it. Marcus Buckingham in his white paper  ‘The Strengths Engagement Track: A Benchmark Study of Sixty-Five High Performing Teams‘ gives the fascinating example of a US Retail giant with 3,000 stores that plotted store profit against a geographic economic potential measure and was able to highlight one store trading at a profit of $1,500,000 and one trading at a loss of $300,000 with the same economic potential, the same products and the same marketing.  What would this mean to the executive?  Well $1,800,000.

Now that should get HR some air time!

Employee engagement, business intelligence and Sunday morning football. is a post from Advanced Business Solutions - Supplier of accounting software, business intelligence and document managment