Best Innovation Consulting

Data & Analytics

Gold Nuggets of Data all over the Ground

Increasingly, how an organization views and uses their data determines their level of success, and therefore the value of the enterprise. Data can be as valuable as gold nuggets for companies, but too often it’s ignored--“left on the ground” rather than mined, gathered, and inventoried as a strategic asset. Gartner research indicates that by 2021, the vast majority of stock analysts will include “data” components in their corporate valuation models for how much structured information each company possesses and how strategically they use it.  This fact will surprise few.  And yet despite this being a well-known fact, Forrester estimates that between 2/3 and 3/4 of corporate data still goes unused in any capacity for analytics.   Care Must be Taken to Protect Your Customers’ Privacy No doubt your organization has contractual obligations and has made promises (explicit or implied) to your customers to protect ALL data which, if released, could [...]

By |2020-10-03T12:40:09-06:00August 19th, 2020|Artificial Intelligence, Data & Analytics, Digital Transformation, Innovation, Monetizing IT|
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The New Digital Normal of Customer Expectations

Digital disruption began well before we were all forced to practice social distancing, but recently it has advanced into sections of society that were previously slow to adopt. As more and more business is conducted online, especially from the palm of their hand, customers are beginning to distinguish between companies who provide an easy experience vs. those who have limited or no digital capabilities. This is really just a continuation of the evolution of customer preferences, and the rewarding of those who align with (or even drive) that evolution.  In the not so distant past, we witnessed what can happen to a brand that does not respond quickly to customer behaviors. Customer battles were everywhere: Blockbuster vs Netflix, and every box store vs Amazon. Now, in the tenuous aftermath of the nationwide COVID-19 economic shutdown, we are seeing other sectors being challenged to make digital the new normal, including service, [...]

By |2020-10-03T12:42:51-06:00June 15th, 2020|Artificial Intelligence, Data & Analytics, Digital Transformation, Innovation, Monetizing IT, Optimizing IT|
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Turning CRM Data into Deep Customer Insights

The world is becoming increasingly personalized.  Frequent flier numbers and customer membership programs enable companies to track consumers' buying patterns; social media platforms and digital marketing channels enable them to know even more about our preferences and lives.  The door has been opened to inappropriate uses of this information, as evidenced by the "fake news" and Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandals from the 2016 election.  But far more commonly, companies are using customer data in legitimate to personalize their communications with customers, with significant results. Customers are happy for you to know about them According to Accenture, 83% of consumers are willing to share their data in order to enable a personalized B2C experience, and 91% say it actually impacts their buying habits.  For B2B purposes, companies have long known there is easy access to public data about them, so any gain in efficiency is welcomed from suppliers who make use of [...]

By |2020-10-03T12:44:47-06:00February 19th, 2020|Artificial Intelligence, Data & Analytics, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Systems, Innovation|
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CRM Adoption Needs Good Leadership as Much as Good IT

Over 90% of companies with dedicated sales teams have licensed a CRM system, and yet far fewer of these companies believe their CRMs are strategic in their impact to the top and bottom lines.  Quora got double-digits responses to the question "Why do salespeople hate CRM?"  "Why do salespeople love CRM?" had not been posted as a question as of the time of this writing. Why is it so challenging to get sales teams to use CRM systems? Contrary to some other commentators on this topic, I don't believe the problem of low CRM adoption is due mainly to the systems being overly complex, or salespeople having limited grasp of software generally.  Don't get me wrong; some CRMs are no doubt too complex, designed by techies without sufficient input from real sales teams, etc.   There are over 300 different CRM systems in the market today, and no doubt some are [...]

By |2020-10-03T12:47:03-06:00January 16th, 2020|Artificial Intelligence, Data & Analytics, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Systems, Innovation, IT Leadership, Monetizing IT, Optimizing IT|
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Not Every Company Needs Our Services – Only Those Which Have Data

A recent McKinsey study found that companies which invested in data quality and analytics increased their profit margin an average of 6%.  For context, the average profit margin across Fortune 500 companies was just 10.7%...!  Who isn't interested in pursuing an increase in their profits of 2/3?  And unlike traditional IT automation, Digital Transformation can not only reduce costs but also potentially increase revenue. Unless your company does not track or utilize data at all, you are missing an opportunity at these kinds of returns if you're not "weaponizing" your data.  GAAP Accounting does not currently allow companies to book their data as an asset on the balance sheet, per se, but it’s safe to say that between two companies with similar financials, the one with the highest quantity & quality of data is truly “worth more” (and will have tangibly better results!) than one with limited, low quality data.  [...]

By |2020-10-03T12:50:10-06:00September 29th, 2019|Data & Analytics, Digital Transformation, Innovation, IT Leadership, Monetizing IT, News|
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Early AI Won’t Reach Professionals’ IQ. Build it Anyway

When you teach your children how to read, you don’t hand them a dictionary. You start with one letter, then move on to the next, hoping you know enough words that describe the letter “X” and can create a system from which they will learn on their own. No one expects a toddler to suddenly pick up the morning paper and process the symbols inked onto the page into useable information—but even knowing that, they begin the long, tedious, (painful?) steps to ensure that one day their child, years down the road, can read the morning paper if they so choose. The results are worth the pain in the end. Yet when people hear about the developments of AI in business, many of them assume the process is pointless if the technology has not reached a level of newspaper-reading, so to speak. What would be the point of investing money [...]

By |2020-10-03T12:11:42-06:00August 1st, 2019|Artificial Intelligence, Data & Analytics, Innovation|
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Turning IT into a Profit Center – Client Success Story

Innovation Vista keeps our past clients and partnerships confidential.  Unless you choose to publicize our joint work, the public - and specifically your competitors - will not know you are working with us, or planning anything new or different.   Sun Tzu said it well: All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.  -- Sun Tzu, The Art of War It is often useful for new and potential clients, though, who are envisioning possible innovation and digital projects, to consider how our approach has benefitted other companies, even just in broad anonymized strokes... One recent example was a financial intermediary involved in connecting counterparties with specific investment needs [...]

By |2020-10-03T12:53:30-06:00May 1st, 2019|Artificial Intelligence, Data & Analytics, Digital Transformation, Innovation, IT Leadership, Monetizing IT|
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