Business intelligence, artificial intelligence, intelligent cloud, intelligent edge, big data…the buzzwords are all around. There is a fundamental shift in the way companies are doing business. Many are beginning to leverage their data in new and innovative ways. They are leveraging their data to make critical business decisions, identify revenue growth opportunities and improve customer experiences.
Intelligent data was a central theme during Microsoft Inspire 2018 last month. From the Intelligent Cloud to the Intelligent Edge, Microsoft is laser-focused on helping customers drive maximum value from their data. As Microsoft Corporate Vice President of One Commercial Partner, Gavriella Schuster, said about the future of today’s “new frontier”:
“The cloud is our modern day gold rush and data is the currency of the cloud.”
The problem: fragmented data sources
Think of all the data “currency” your organization is capturing. First, data is being collected from traditional sources such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and CRM applications, which are used to manage back-office functions like finance, accounts payable, accounts receivable, general ledger and supply chain. Data is also collected from front-office functions like sales, service and call centers. Isn’t it time to get more from all of this data?
The solution: a 360-degree view of your data assets
Consider Microsoft’s Dynamics 365. Dynamics 365 offers the ability to tie together disparate data sources, unifying data, eliminating silos and enabling cross-functional analysis between different departments. An intelligent platform such as this can provide you with insights like never before.
Through this one modern, intelligent cloud application, you have the ability to leverage your data to make critical investment and business process decisions. Should you open a new store in California? Would offering a new color of widget impact sales? What if your sellers could have access to their key contacts along with relevant notes on their mobile phones? Could that enable them to close deals faster?
The next step: build a big data strategy
Whatever the use case or platform, your data is a tremendous and valuable resource. To get the most return from your organization’s data currency, it is important to understand the technologies that are available today. There are also different approaches to data that will enable you to reduce cost and yield business insights. We recently published a guide that further explores the basics of big data and steps to take to build your organization’s data strategy. You can download it by clicking here or by filling out the form below.
