What is data discovery?
“We are drowning in information but starved for knowledge” according to best selling author, John Naisbitt. Today’s businesses can collect piles of information on everything from customer buying patterns to supplier lead times and marketing efforts. Yet it is difficult to draw value and truth from the massive amount of data your business collects without a data discovery system (aka data platform) in place.
So what is data discovery?
Data discovery is a term related to business intelligence technology. It is the process of collecting data from your various databases and silos, and consolidating it into a single source that can be easily and instantly evaluated. Once your raw data is converted, you then have visibility into many aspects of your business. Once a trend is identified, the software empowers you to unearth the contributing factors.
For instance, BI enables you to explore the data by region, different employees, product type, and more. In a matter of seconds, you have access to actionable insights to make rapid, fact-based decisions in response to your discoveries. Without BI, discovering a trend is usually a case of coincidence.
With data discovery, the user searches for specific items or patterns in a data set. Visual tools make the process fun, easy-to-use, swift, and intuitive. Visualization of data now goes beyond traditional static reports. BI visualizations have expanded to include geographical maps, pivot-tables, heat maps, and more, giving you the ability to create high-fidelity presentations of your discoveries.
Discover trends you did not know where there
With data discovery, executives are often shocked to discover trends they didn’t know were there. Michael Smith of the Johnston Corporation had this to say after implementing Phocas business intelligence:
"Five minutes into the demo, I had found items that didn't have the margin I was expecting, customers that didn't have the profitability I was expecting and vendors that weren't performing the way I expected. I realised that we were onto something that would be very impactful to our business."
These discoveries allow companies to pinpoint unfavourable trends before they become a problem and take action to avoid losses.
Take action now
Many of the most successful companies today are using BI to inform their strategies and day-to-day operations. Phocas has years of experience helping manufacturers, distributors, and retailers get the most from their business data and now is extending into new industries with data discovery for finance teams. Phocas is designed with the everyday user in mind so it's very user-friendly without compromising quality. Not only does Phocas provide impactful visualizations to reveal exactly what the data is telling you, it also has a collaboration feature so that pertinent discoveries can be shared with and commented on by colleagues.
With relevant insights, a company can now make the most knowledgeable decisions about effective strategies to acquire, serve, and retain valuable customers. Having a mountain of data is useless unless it is converted into meaningful information. The ability to discover the truth behind your data will go a long way to guarantee your company achieves and maintains its competitive edge.
To learn how Phocas can help you discover your data’s untold stories, watch the 80 second video below of Phocas in action.
For more information about data discovery download this free ebook, Choosing the right business planning and analytics platform
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