Here are 5 ways you can go through a business process re-engineering, develop custom software solutions and make your business not only more successful but have the decision making process a lot easier and faster at the same time.
Step 1: Simplify your data world.
All too often, businesses windup using several different software packages to do essentially the same thing. The sales department will be using one software package, the shipping/receiving department using others, the support department using yet another and accounts payable/receivable yet another. All of these data sources are working from essentially the same customer and vendor lists so finding packages that can be used by multiple departments will help reduce data bloat.
Step 2: Integrate, integrate, integrate.
Get as much of your software working from the same database design. Also, finding reporting packages that will pull data from the separate databases will smooth the dataflow process. The key to making great decisions is in properly mining the available data - and knowing when to get rid of a redundant process slowing down your business. Eliminating redundancies by integration will enable you to start simplifying not only your IT business processes but your decision making process as well.
Step 3: Upgrade.
Upgrade servers, upgrade software vital to your business, upgrade user PC's. Get as current as possible so the data flow speed will be at its maximum and you will enjoy all the benefits of new features and the latest security. Using responsible IT process management, make sure your systems and your software are as current as possible.
Step 4: Maximize report integration.
Your main concern is the bottom line. It doesn't matter if that is the bottom line in the sales department, research and development, shipping and receiving or overhead, your business decisions are based off of those bottom line numbers. If you still have staff members distilling that information from spreadsheets, you're wasting time, staff resources and money. A good net development company will offer modern software technologies and reporting packages, which can distill all of that information at the click of a mouse, giving you instant snapshots of those bottom line numbers.
Step 5: Look ahead.
If all you focus on today is today, then you're already behind. Success in today's competitive environments means looking for what's next. You can use data analysis of your past and current numbers as one factor of your decision making process but the key to the future is correct anticipation of what's trending, what's new and what will happen. That brings even more data into your decision making picture and having a tight, cohesive system to give you what is going on now and to show you possible futures will be what leads to your success.
Your business is all about data, whether it be people data, product data, sales data or trending data, you have to have ways to distill that data cloud into numbers you can make decisions with. Re-engineering your business processes by reducing redundancies, integrating data, speeding up your systems, using a reporting system that pulls from all your data sources and looking toward the future, your decision making will be much faster and more accurate. This means your business is more successful.
To learn more about the importance of eliminating human error in your operations, please download the eBook titled "How to Automate Business Process in 7 Smart Steps."
