business intelligence Archives

7 Essential Data-Driven Processes for Scalable Business Growth

Posted on November 22, 2023November 22, 2024 by John Marquez

In the professional world, data-driven processes are vital to successful scaling efforts. While many companies collect data, its real value lies in extracting insights that lead to growth-oriented decisions.

Whether you’re a start-up founder in the early stages of building your business or an executive responsible for decision-making in multiple departments of an expanding company, having data play a more prominent role in your processes makes sense.

Stay tuned to learn more about data and why it’s a powerful yet often overlooked asset in many businesses today. We’ll also share seven innovative approaches to implementation so you can start scaling your business with data-driven processes today.

What is Data, and Why Does It Matter?

In a business context, data refers to the raw facts and statistics collected through customer information, sales figures, market trends, and operational metrics. In simple terms, bits of data are like pieces of a puzzle that help businesses see the bigger picture within their unique industry.

In the early stages of business development, data collection may seem trivial. But as companies experience market expansion and daily operations become more complex, using data to make informed decisions becomes essential for sustainable growth.

Don’t just take our word for it. The proof is in the digital pudding. Statistics show that data-driven organizations are 23 times more likely to acquire customers. Businesses that use big data increase their profit by 8 percent, and insight-driven companies are growing at an average of 30% each year.

Data provides tangible evidence to support decision-making. Businesses can mitigate risks and better spot opportunities by reducing reliance on intuition and guesswork and focusing on data instead.

Implementing data-driven processes throughout multiple operations and departments takes time to happen. Instead, most companies find it to be a journey of continuous improvement, finding inspiration to embrace data further as they gain ground on the competition and boost revenue.

7 Data-Driven Processes to Implement for Business Scaling

Scaling requires a strategic approach that includes data-driven processes. Here are seven ways to help you make data a central and transformative force in your business.

1. Invoice Processing for Efficient Financial Operations

Manual invoice management can be very time-consuming. Over half of businesses spend over 10 hours manually processing invoices and supplier payments weekly. As a business grows, keeping up with manual invoicing becomes more challenging.

More invoices increase the chances of data-entry errors or missed payments. Processing may also be delayed, negatively impacting cash flow with consequences that trickle down throughout multiple departments.

A data-driven invoice processing approach involves leveraging data analytics and automating tasks. Such a process may involve:

Using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and AI-powered tools to extract data from paper invoices, reducing manual data entry automatically.
Utilizing invoice matching algorithms to match invoices with purchase orders and receipts to ensure accuracy.
Using historical data to predict invoice approval times.
Automating workflows for approval based on predefined rules and thresholds.

Automating invoice processing improves efficiency, reduces errors, and makes invoice communications more accessible. There’s also massive potential for savings in time and money. Businesses that spend less time on manual invoicing can focus on enhancing supplier relationships and core operations, both of which positively impact business growth.

2. Protecting Email Reputation for Effective Communication

More than 20% of commercial emails never reach the recipient’s inbox. Email reputation, or sender reputation, plays a large role in whether your cold outreach emails reach their intended destination.

Think of your company domain’s email reputation as a credit score. In both cases:

Trustworthiness matters. Just as lenders look for borrowers with good financial habits, email service providers look for email senders who follow best practices and send legitimate emails.
Scores impact access. Higher credit scores open doors to better financial opportunities. Similarly, positive email reputations allow for better email deliverability rates.
Maintenance is key. Credit scores can continuously fluctuate, and so can email reputation. Sending relevant and engaging emails can help keep your email reputation from dropping.

Also, similar to a credit score, having a poor email reputation can have serious negative consequences. Your company’s emails may go directly to a spam folder, and a poor email reputation can damage your brand’s credibility and trustworthiness.

However, there are ways to improve your email reputation with data. Try using the data to segment your email list based on metrics like engagement and recipient behavior and sending targeted and relevant content to each segment to boost your email reputation.

Simultaneously, clean up and verify your email list using data validation and list hygiene tools. By removing invalid or outdated addresses, you’ll ensure your messaging reaches active and engaged readers.

3. Automating Sales for Increased Profits

Without effective sales, even the most successful businesses can quickly crumble. While traditional sales tactics were once more than enough to keep businesses thriving, today’s business landscape requires sales to be faster and more agile. Enter automation for sales or the use of technology and software tools to streamline and optimize various aspects of the sales process.

At its core, sales automation is fueled by data.

Some examples of sales automation include:

Email automation. Streamlining email marketing using email templates, drip campaigns, and automated follow-ups can boost sales while keeping leads fully engaged.
Task and activity management. By automatically scheduling tasks, appointments, and follow-ups, sales reps can focus on making sales rather than schedules.
Proposal and quote generation. Using customization options, certain systems can help businesses automatically create quotes, bids, and contracts that still feel personalized and offer an accurate summary of services and appropriate fees.

While incorporating automation into the sales process may be gradual and challenging, it’s also rewarding. Research shows that sales automation boosts productivity within the department by 14.5% while bringing down marketing costs by 12.2%.

4. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) for Enhanced Customer Interactions

CRM, or Customer Relationship Management, is a data-driven technology that manages and analyzes interactions with current and potential customers. You can integrate these tools with other types of software and store a variety of data, including:

Contact information
Interaction history
Purchase history
Leads and opportunities
Communication records
Notes and comments
Task and activity logs
Custom fields

Nearly half of companies who use CRM saw their sales revenue increase. The average ROI for CRM spending is $8.71 for every dollar spent. By implementing CRM powered by data into your business, you can quickly improve cash flow, which can help you expand your services, products, or reach.

5. Supply Chain Optimization for Streamlined Operations

Manual supply chain processes can be problematic due to their reliance on human intervention. For example, manual processes are often slower and less efficient than automated ones. Manual data entry and processing are also prone to errors, resulting in incorrect orders, shipments, and inventory records.

When companies have difficulty with inventory management due to the limitations of manual operations, overstocking or stockouts may occur, impacting cash flow and customer satisfaction.

Data can be crucial in optimizing your company’s supply chain, helping you streamline operations and improve efficiency.

Here are several ways to consider implementing data for optimized supply chain management:

Use historical sales data and projected market trends to forecast future demand accurately.
Use data-driven insights to negotiate better terms with suppliers by analyzing performance data and presenting specific metrics during negotiations for better pricing or payment terms.
Implement real-time monitoring and alerts to respond quickly to supply chain disruptions.
Analyze customer data to better understand preferences, buying behavior, and trends.
Use machine learning and AI to identify patterns and automate decision-making.

Inventory management is an ideal place to start if you’re looking for a low-risk route to implementing data-driven solutions in your business. Nearly 95% of companies using IoT in inventory management have seen a positive return on their investment.

6. Employee Performance Analytics for Talent Management

Talent management can be challenging for several reasons. From fierce competition to changing workforce dynamics and high-performing employees being lured away by better opportunities, HR departments across nearly every industry face a losing battle.

By analyzing employee performance via data, several benefits may unfold. HR can make informed decisions based on more than first impressions. This approach makes it easier to align talent strategies with business objectives.

Additionally, companies can zero in on identifying and supporting their top-performing employees while simultaneously revealing skill gaps and areas where other employees may benefit from training. Tailoring training programs can improve overall performance, individually and as a company.

Finally, performance data can uncover team conflict or productivity bottlenecks. Addressing these issues promptly and professionally improves workplace satisfaction and helps retain great employees.

Research shows the companies most skilled at talent management have 2.2 times the revenue growth and 2.1 times the profit rate than companies struggling to manage top talent.

Are you still trying to figure out where to start? Collect relevant performance data consistently and accurately to build a database, including individual and team sales figures, to identify top performers.

It’s also ideal to track customer feedback and satisfaction scores to see where improvements are needed. Employee turnover data can also help to identify reasons for employee departures and take steps to improve retention strategies.

7. Data-Driven Product Development and Innovation for Fast Market Entry

Suppose you rely on intuition-driven product development and base decisions about your next product’s features, design, and development on your gut. In that case, you may not be experiencing the results you hoped for.

There are several problems with this approach. First, is that personal biases and past experiences influence intuition. You may be making product-based decisions that favor your personal preferences rather than the needs of your target market.

You may also fall victim to inefficient resource allocation with intuition-driven product development. By allocating resources to ideas or features that don’t have the data to back them up, you find yourself short on cash, talent, or time for products with more potential.

You have a few options when it comes to data-driven product development and innovation:

A lean startup methodology involves quickly building a minimally viable product or MVP. It is then tested in the market and adjusted based on user feedback.
Predictive analytics uses historical data like user behavior and market dynamics to forecast the next big product.
A/B testing is one of the most popular product development methodologies. The process involves comparing two versions of a product or feature to determine which option users prefer and why.

By using data-driven product development, your company can respond faster to market demands and enter the market rapidly with a better product.

Take the Data-Driven Path for Sustained Business Growth

Data-driven processes are the catalyst to unlocking the full potential of your business. Set the foundation for sustainable growth by scaling with insight over intuition.

The strategies explored in this blog are just the beginning.

Continue to explore other opportunities to implement data-driven processes into your business.

Adapting Successfully To Digital Transformation

Posted on November 8, 2021May 22, 2023 by Brian Kinney

Technology—namely business management technology—has a unique impact on every small business. Drilling down one layer deeper, technology has a unique impact on every employee and customer. Drilling down yet another layer, technology has a unique impact on every single action (and non-action) taken by every employee and customer.

Technology plays a vital role in shaping and defining the way a small business operates, at levels big and small.

Just as technology has a unique impact on every small business, every business is also unique in where it stands in terms of its respective technology life cycle. At some level, every business is at a different stage of digital transformation.

A study conducted by Deloitte found that nearly 80% of small businesses are not taking full advantage of the digital business management tools at their disposal.

Some businesses make the most out of using the bare minimum level of technology (i.e. Microsoft Office, Google Drive, basic shared calendars, etc.) while others have adopted various ERP, CRM, and marketing technologies. Chances are, you find yourself somewhere in between. Even if you’ve only begun to scratch the surface in researching integrated business technologies (kind of like what you’re doing right now) you’re well on your way to the top of the small business technological adoption curve.

Before you arrive at the moment of “Yes, that’s the technology I want and need. Let’s put it to work,” there are a few things to consider. It starts with taking a step backward and performing some holistic analysis of your business as it is, and your business as you want it to be in the future.

Assess The Status Quo

Before you can start assessing the future of your business and the way that technology will have an impact on that future, you need to take account of your business as it stands currently.

Not just the technology used in your operations, but the logistical processes, financial decisions, employee roles and responsibilities, and anything else that has a meaningful impact.

Take note of every detail. Not just your inventory and related physical components of your business, but the intangible ways you go about your day, the ways your employees go about theirs, and everything in between. Analyze what’s being done on a daily basis, and what isn’t.

You’ll most likely find that the insights you uncover will range from good to bad and everything in between. Let’s go over how you should handle each:

For any positive findings about your business’ status quo that you uncover, you want to leave those mostly untouched. However, it’s still important to keep in mind the ways that technology could improve upon them. Just because these findings are positive in the current moment doesn’t ensure that they will stay that way forever as your business grows.

For any negative findings, it’s important to launch a full-scale revamp. Why and how are these findings hindering the overall health of your business? Is it a human, logistical, or technological problem? Is it a combination of these factors? This is where it becomes critically important to take a step back and figure out exactly what can be done at every level big and small.

Aside from sitting down with everything involved in the aspect of your business that you’ve found to be a hindrance, one additional decision you could make would be to contact a professional business technology consultant. They will be able to provide you with an objective perspective of your business while at the same time providing you with expertise in terms of how technology can help alleviate the problems at hand.

Create Goals

The changes you make within your small business—technological or otherwise—are only as good as the reasons why you’re making those changes. Change for the sake of change doesn’t cut it. Meaningful changes that serve a bigger purpose with an easily quantifiable end result will prove to be changes worth making.

Successful group managing goals for digital transformation

That being said, what are the goals that indicate success for your business? If and when you achieve them, what are some other goals you will outline each and every day in order to maintain that success? At what point will you be devising new goals to accomplish?

Obviously, generating a higher revenue is the end objective for every small business. The goals involved in getting to that final destination are what will vary. Selling more products, hiring additional/specialized staff, and acquiring better leads are some of the typical means to this end.

A major component of goal setting isn’t just about defining the objective you wish to achieve—it’s about setting smaller, more granular goals on how those overarching goals will be accomplished.

For example, if your large, overarching goal is to acquire more customers, your granular goals should look something like this:

Develop valuable, gated content on your site that contains relevant search intent
Use project management tools to define your budget and medium(s) for marketing the aforementioned content
Utilize automation technology to send automated emails and drip campaigns to prospect information collected from the gated content
Ensure that a system is in place where all sales staff have access to up-to-the-minute information on leads
Ask for and analyze customer feedback on sales staff/process/experience in order to figure out what’s working and what can be improved upon
Be able to quickly view daily, monthly, quarterly, and yearly sales figures at a glance

Not every list of goals that your business puts forth will look like this. Some may include many more steps, some fewer. However, using this framework of focusing on the process minutiae in order to accomplish the larger objective, you’ll be able to hone the best technologies and processes to accomplish your goals.

Data Flow Between Systems and People

Even the most basic small businesses have several departments. Executive-level management, accounting, field employees, mid-level management—the list goes on.

Every department needs to communicate and collaborate with one another. Interdepartmental communication has always had its challenges, but given the drastic increase in some employees working from home while others are not, these challenges have been exacerbated.

business management software data management

The flow of time-sensitive information not only depends on the people involved, it now further depends on the technology used to effect that communication. Think about your own business. If tasked with retrieving information from another department, how long would you anticipate it to take to receive that information? Minutes? Hours? Complete uncertainty?

If the answer is anything above “just a few minutes” your department may find itself working in an information silo. Odds are, if one department finds itself here, they all do.

Data silos aren’t some malevolent concoction drawn up by a disgruntled executive looking to inflict stress on his employees. They are simply a natural result of business process development. People primarily work and share information and collaborate with people in their immediate cluster of co-workers. While it’s not anyone’s fault that data silos exist within your organization, it doesn’t mean that they don’t cause problems.

Areas Negatively Impacted By Data Silos

Productivity

Even in the most segmented businesses with the most specialized, sequestered employees that don’t share many commonalities among the tasks they perform (think accountants vs crane operators) there will be data that must be shared across departments.

The longer it takes to find information, the longer it will take to complete tasks. Simple as that. Over time, this will cause backlogs, delays, and other inefficiencies that will have a negative trickle-down effect across your entire business.

Data Accuracy and Analysis

When you were younger (or as an adult, we don’t judge) have you ever played the game “whisper down the lane?” Sometimes, the game is also called “telephone.”

If you’re unfamiliar, the objective is for the first person in line to privately repeat a phrase to the next person in line, with every person in line privately repeating it to the next person, eventually making its way to the final person in line. Nearly every single time, the phrase is slowly—yet unintentionally—manipulated and altered so much so that it barely resembles the original phrase uttered by the first person in line who conceived it.

When small businesses don’t have a single, centralized, data storage and communication hub that contains a single, accurate version of the truth, this same phenomenon occurs. Disconnected email chains, handwritten notes, and duplicate files are just some of the many ways that data can be misinterpreted as it passes from one person to another.

Culture

Beyond the technological component, communication between departments is also largely dependent on the interpersonal relationships developed between employees.

Working from home, this has become a challenge, but a far from impossible one to meet.

Regardless of geographical circumstances, members of departments often cling to their data out of fear that it will be altered by someone lacking appropriate skills or context. While taking ownership and pride in work is important, it’s just as important to have trust in members of other departments when handling data.

When projects, documents, or other relevant information needs to be handed off to a different department, it’s important for employees to recognize that that data is safeguarded and that a proper history of edits and alterations can be recorded. A little healthy competition and chest-puffing between departments isn’t always a bad thing, but it’s important that constructive collaboration is always the top priority.

Wrapping Up

Digital transformation sounds complicated because, well, sometimes it is. Taking a step back to take a holistic look at everything going on within your business will certainly shed some light on things you were unaware of before. That’s a good thing—albeit sometimes painful if not all of those things you find are “good things.”

Technology impacts everything. From the little things people do when they clock in each day to the year-over-year goals and strategies you put forth, technology can be a catalyst to make sure your business is operating as efficiently as possible.

The great thing about integrated business management software technology at the core of your business is that it has a cyclical, reverberating effect—it allows your business to run more efficiently which streamlines your workflow, therefore creating more productivity among your employees, which allows your business to run more efficiently, which streamlines your workflow…you get the idea.

The Hidden Value of Integrated Software Systems

Posted on November 1, 2021May 19, 2023 by Brian Kinney

Running a business is a high-stakes balancing act. Accounting, inventory, talent acquisition, and customer relationship management are just some of the countless items that business owners, operations managers, and other executive-level employees need to manage and master simultaneously.

In addition, you have to actively keep in mind the most important rule of all: in order to succeed, you need to keep moving forward.

It’s easy to get lost in the sea of tasks and responsibilities that come with the territory of operating a small business. Even with reliable employees to delegate to, the hardest-working small business owners and executives still struggle to sort through and properly prioritize everything that needs to be done. There’s no one size fits all method to success—every business in every industry (not to mention every business owner and executive) is different. The challenges each face are different, sometimes drastically so, and will require different solutions.

When time is of the essence—which almost always seems like the case—it can be tempting to just simply get to work. Simply “getting to work”, implies answering the first email that you see, handling the first employee request you receive, or otherwise jumping into the throes of daily labor. In other words, many people responsible for overseeing numerous tasks and departments default to focusing entirely on a single task without always keeping in mind the bigger picture of what needs to be accomplished.

Integrated Software Systems Help You Work Smarter

Abraham Lincoln is often quoted as having said, “If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend six sharpening my axe.”

There’s something comforting about working hard. It provides purpose, clarity, and the peaceful satisfaction of pure, unadulterated accomplishment. Hard work is the foundation of any business and is a core personality trait of any successful businessperson. Hard work is the foundation of anything worthwhile and substantial in this world.

For someone whose job description centers around a singular or just a small handful of tasks (i.e. making cold calls, assembling a product, or counting inventory) putting your head down and getting to work is typically the best course of action.

But those who manage small businesses at a high level know all too well that their job description is never just one thing. It’s about being a career chameleon—sometimes the job calls for being a marketing director, sometimes it calls for being an accountant. Other times it calls for being a hands-off facilitator that’s able to successfully delegate and put others in a position to succeed.

Because small business leadership roles are so prone to widely fluctuating responsibilities, it’s not (just) about hard work. It’s about smart work.

It’s not about any one email, sale, or decision. It’s about all of them. It’s about how they affect each other, how processes are able to cohesively mesh with one another, how action items are prioritized, and how keeping a big-picture perspective at all times enhances the effectiveness of your business strategy. It requires every small decision to be made with the business’ overarching, long-term goals in mind.

Analyzing Unintegrated Software Systems and Inefficient Processes

Sometimes, it even requires taking a further step backward to understand how and why tasks are completed, and whether the processes for completing them can be improved upon.

Taking a step backward to address the big “whys” and “hows” of the processes and procedures within your business is often one of the most difficult things for business owners to do.

When your business is already successful, it actually makes this process of introspection and analysis a bit harder. The “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality reigns with authority in the headspace of many business owners.

It isn’t about fixing something that is broken—don’t change what your business does (selling car parts, repairing computers, shipping home decor, etc.) but rather it’s about updating and adjusting the processes, methods, and integrated business software solutions surrounding how your business goes about achieving these goals.

For example:

If you have been successfully reaching customers via word of mouth in order to sell your products, you may want to ask “How can I market my products more effectively, profitably, and on a larger scale?”

Suppose you have been successfully tracking your inventory and sales by utilizing spreadsheets and actual sheets of paper. In that case, you may want to ask “How can I more reliably sort, analyze, and keep my data safe?”

If you have been successfully sending field technicians to their job sites but have been exclusively using text messages and phone calls to communicate financial, customer, and job site data, you might ask “How can I implement a more streamlined system for transmitting sensitive data from the field to the office and vice versa?”

What do the processes described in these common scenarios all have in common?

The processes being relied upon are unintegrated and disconnected.
These processes are centered around outdated technology or inefficient methodologies.
The unintegrated and antiquated nature of these processes does not allow for a clear, big-picture focus to be implemented at every level of decision-making and action, hindering growth, scalability, and profitability.

For small businesses, the first step to moving forward should be to take a step back and analyze the process-level improvements that can be made in terms of utilizing technology to optimize workflows and processes.

This isn’t to say that every procedure within your company needs to be overhauled or that every piece of technology your business owns is now rendered useless—it’s about making sure that every procedure within your company is connected in the most optimal fashion, and that employees are going about their business in the most efficient way possible. From accounting to CRM to projects to onboarding, the interconnectedness of data points and information is a catalyst for better strategic and financial outcomes.

For small businesses, it pays to take note of the strategies large enterprises are backing:

Data-driven companies are growing at a rate of about 30% annually.
Data-driven companies are 20x more likely to attract customers and 6x more likely to retain them.
91.9% of leading companies are accelerating their “big data” investments.

It’s worth noting that these organizations have a (much) higher budget than small businesses do. They will be able to leverage gargantuan data sets from across the globe faster than any small business is capable of. That doesn’t diminish the fact that the strategy of utilizing fully integrated systems is a winning one. In fact, there are many ways that small businesses can put the same strategies to work.

Before these organizations implemented innovative, integrated business management technology in order to leverage their data, they made the important first step that we discussed earlier: taking a step back to assess what improvements could be made to their existing processes and operations and what downsides arise due to disconnected systems.

Let’s take a look at some of the most common challenges caused by process inefficiencies at the technological level and the effects that addressing these problems at their root can have.

Challenges Caused By Disconnected Software Systems

Delayed Data and Reporting

Having accurate data is good—but having accurate, real-time, and easily accessible data is great. When relying on various and scattered spreadsheets, text messages, and emails to find important information, both accuracy and efficiency suffer, leading to slower overall time to task completion.

In all, businesses lose about 20% of their potential revenue due to poor-quality data.

This could potentially have a trickle-down effect in all phases of your business. For example, an incorrect or lagging inventory count will throw sales numbers into a state of confusion, therefore increasing the amount of time accountants spend trying to find accurate information. They’ll need to consult various records in order to rectify the numbers. Not only will this result in wasted time, it could potentially result in a customer not being able to fulfill their order due to incorrect inventory figures.

Wasted Productivity

Time is always of the essence—when it comes to the information that your business needs to function each day, the less time that can be spent searching for the accurate version of said information eats into productivity. In fact, if there are multiple versions of the same data at all, that should be an indicator that this is a process to be improved upon.

business management efficiency integrated software

Wasted time hurts businesses in more ways than one. When employees at all levels are utilizing inefficient processes, it not only takes away from additional productivity, it lowers the overall accuracy of the information, therefore leading to an increased lack of productivity by having to solve errors when they arise. Yes, errors are inevitable, but taking substantial efforts to reduce their frequency and severity will pay off in the long run.

Increased Cost

While faulty data and decreased productivity lead to reduced revenue, there are other elements that can lead to inefficient processes and systems that generate an increased cost.

Odds are, you utilize some sort of technology to manage your customer data, accounting needs, and other standard types of operations. Are these technologies built to connect to each other? When something goes wrong, is there a single entity you can contact, or will you have to spend additional time and money on customer support from various technology providers to get to the root of the problem? Have you had to spend additional time both learning and teaching your employees the ins and outs of several, separate software systems?

With the ever-increasing costs associated with goods and labor, it’s imperative that the technology your business relies on to function properly provides a net positive cost-benefit ratio.

Wrapping Up

Integrated software systems technology can and should be used as a boon to improve your business at a holistic level. At the end of the day, technology is a means to an end—that end is making your business operate more efficiently and profitably than it did the day before.

Integrated Business Software: What You Need To Know

Posted on July 12, 2021May 9, 2023 by Brian Kinney

Every business has a lot of moving parts. Whether your business manufactures goods in a factory or provides in-home services to customers, it is equally important to have a unified and clear picture of all of the components of your operation.

As you work towards attaining a more all-encompassing view of your operations, it’s easy to get lost in a sea of projects and tasks. In other words, sometimes you can’t see the forest for the trees.

One skill that can be useful in tackling an abundant and overflowing to-do list? Delegation.

When you hear the term “delegation” you are probably imagining handing off work to your employees. While this will still be true, some of the most powerful delegations are not ones you task to your employees—it’s the work you hand off to your integrated business management software.

Delegating tasks to your integrated business software provides some of the same benefits as traditional delegation. You (and your employees) will have time to focus on higher-level tasks, it will open up time to learn new skills and conduct market research, and it will improve efficiency across the board.

Even for tasks that still require a deft human touch, integrated business software provides a tangible procedural advantage that improves operational success and efficiency across the board.

What Is Integrated Business Software?

Integrated business software is a seamless collection of solutions, processes, and data. Accounting modules, customer records, and smart calendars are just some of the previously isolated functionalities and features that integrated business software unifies.

Notably, business needs vary by size, industry, and even season of the year. One key element of integrated business software is that it’s adaptive and elastic to the nuances of industry needs—while one business is looking for an alternative to their existing accounting software, another will focus on generating automated sales reports.

Integrated business software handles it all, providing connectivity and clarity throughout every facet of your business.

On the highest level, it ensures that you, your customers, and your employees have immediate, accurate, and complete access to all pertinent information. It detangles and connects previously disconnected silos within your business so that processes can run smoother and more efficiently than before.

Challenges Caused By Disconnected Software Systems

Without an integrated business management software system, businesses typically rely on a handful of disconnected software suites to get the job done.

Even if you’re primarily using standard, powerful spreadsheet and storage software systems, there are still issues that arise. The tricky part? Many of these issues often don’t come to light until it’s too late.

Let’s take a look at some of the operational issues and inefficiencies caused by disconnected software systems: