How do you cut IT out of the loop?

In today’s world of instant information and web based technologies you shouldn’t have to wait days or even weeks for your reports. It’s your data and you want it NOW!

When you have an electronic system it is essential to be able to get the data that is captured, how you want it and when you want it. What you need is lovingly referred to, by users of the technology, as “Ad-Hoc” reporting. This means that business users like you can create a report with the data you need containing real time data. More importantly you can create this report and be getting your data in about 5 minutes.

Many companies still wait 5 or even 10 days after they close their books to get reports. For you this may be like trying to manage and make decisions in the dark. Minor problems can become big problems quickly and your competitors will be sure to capitalize on these opportunities.

A system that supplies AD-Hoc reporting can be one of the most valuable tools available to your users. Any field can quickly be added to an existing or new report. Reports can be created quickly and even emailed, exported or turned into PDF’s.  If your system is not giving you the flexibility to get your data when you need it feel free to give us a call at 1-323-300-4856 or shoot us an email at sales@djysolutions.com to see how we can help you out.

Question: What is the easiest way to get your employees to use a new data capturing system?

Answer:  Make the data capturing process just like filling out what they are used to, a piece of paper!

One of the main issues with introducing a new system into an organization is that of getting the existing user base on board. When a system is designed to look like a piece of paper users are accustomed to, they can immediately relate to the new process. This strategy results in a higher successful adoption rate with newly introduced systems.

Minimizing end user training is a major cost cutting factor that all companies should be aware of when implementing a new system. Quickly getting the end users on board with new processes should be as simple and intuitive as possible. Does your system mimic your paperwork or does it require your users to learn a whole new interface?

In most cases the simplest solution is to initially convert common paper processes to that of an “electronic” paper process. If you have a paper process that needs greater control and capabilities and don’t want to spend months re training your users feel free to give us a call at 1-323-300-4856 or shoot us an email at sales@djysolutions.com.

KPI’s allow a company to measure their progress to their Critical Success Factors (CSF) and or business objective. These are goals that are higher level goals that are directly linked to the overall corporate strategy.  The goals are usually measurable, indicate results and quantifiable.

An example of CSF set by executives would be the need to increase customer response time to 2 days from the current 5 days. In addition they also want to increase the sales to existing customers by 5%.

To achieve these end goals a company may now put in the processes to track some of the necessary KPI’s. These could be like:

• Customer Interaction KPI: Tracking the receipt of customer initial inquiry as well as the customer representative’s interaction back with the customer. This could be done with various ERP systems as long as they integrate with the forms of communication most used by the customer representatives.
• Ordering System and Existing Customer KPI: A system would be put in place to tie the ordering system to that of their customer base. Also being able to mark existing customer’s vs. new customers if this was not already available.

After these tracking indicators are in place then different triggering mechanisms and visual displays like dashboards can be implemented to communicate to relevant parties where additional effort is required to meet the CSF’s.

The ability to take measurements of different factors in an organization is the first step in allowing managers to make better decisions. In a majority of industries managers are only able to make good decisions when they are provided with the proper data. If your managers aren’t getting the best possible data in a relevant amount of time you could be under utilizing the resources you are paying good money for. KPI’s are put in place to make sure you are gathering the right data to achieve your CSF’s.

If you have questions about this post, or are interested in learning about KPI’s specific to your company and how these can be implemented feel free to give us a call at 1-323-300-4856 or shoot us an email at sales@djysolutions.com.

Let’s say, as an example, you are trying to use the data in your system to generate reports or even to integrate with an external system. If the end users can put in data without controls all sorts of trouble can happen. Your reports may end up showing an error instead of a proper answer, your integrations could crash another system, or even worse everything may seem ok but you will make decisions based on incorrect data. The cause could be as simple as someone writing “2..1” instead of “2.1”, or typing “the widget” instead of “widget”.

Data entry systems need to be designed and built to avoid information chaos. Can your users type anything they want into any field? Does the system accept this without complaint or warning? On a small scale this may not that big of a deal but when you are dealing with 100’s and 1000’s of users this can quickly wreak havoc on your reports, data integrity and integrated processes.

Defining what can and can’t be entered in the initial system design can save you headaches down the road and keep your data they way you need it. It may not be important now, but if your ultimate plan for your company is to grow and expand you can be sure this will be important down the road.

Want to know how you can control information chaos in your organization? Feel free to give us a call at 1-323-300-4856 or shoot us an email at sales@djysolutions.com to have a free conversation.