Firms across Shropshire looking for improved performance during the second half of the year are being advised to invest more time in understanding Business Intelligence.
Alex Whittles, owner of big data company Purple Frog Systems and the brains behind new software service Power BI Sentinel, estimates that around 80 per cent of data within businesses is unstructured.
As a result he claims the vast majority of companies are not working as smartly and effectively as they could to achieve sales and growth.
“Running a business, whether you’re an entrepreneur or head of a large global corporation, is becoming increasingly more and more competitive,” he explained.
“The reason for this is partly due to the changing nature of technology and the endless possibilities which exist for businesses to communicate with their target customers.
“Social media for one has changed entirely the way people think, engage and consume products and services.
“Staying ahead of your competitors is tough and the ones doing a good job are those investing time and resources into understanding their Business Intelligence and then using this knowledge to their advantage.”
Unstructured business data in the form of social media feeds, digital photos, emails, videos, audio files and text documents can be difficult to analyse, explained Alex, who leads the Purple Frog team from a new office based at Quantum House in Telford.
However, he added: “There are lots of analytical tools available which businesses can invest in to make the job of extracting information from a variety of sources including websites, blogs or even phone applications easier.
“Taking time to understand the data can unlock a wealth of information about your ideal customers and their buying behaviours.
“This knowledge can then be used to help you to make better strategic decisions about your business, work smarter and more effectively, improve customer experience and ultimately increase sales.
“It really is a no brainer.”
Alex, who has recently returned from a conference in Europe where he spoke about the benefits of Business Intelligence and also introduced Purple Frog’s latest software innovation Power BI Sentinel, said for businesses to capitalise on growth over the next six to 12 months it was critical for them to invest time in understanding their own Business Intelligence.
The new Power BI Sentinel service developed by the team at Purple Frog aims to enhance analytical capabilities for businesses already using Microsoft’s analytical tool Power BI.
“The service is already proving a huge hit with businesses who understand what can be achieved with information gleaned through their own Business Intelligence and we are working with companies across the globe,” said Alex.
“There’s no doubt that BI will continue to transform the way in which businesses do their business and those which understand and utilise this data to the best effect will be those maintaining a competitive edge.”
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