Big Data is on everyone’s lips as both a challenge and an opportunity for 2018, with a promise that increased information will allow us to yield valuable insights and make better business decisions.
Organizations that manage to make sense of their data, and use it to make informed business decisions are gaining competitive advantage. We spoke with Kelly McCarthy, President at Genesis Integration about this trend, and its impact on technology integrators.
“With Q360, the a
mount of data available to us grew considerably, and our ability to understand the information has also increased considerably.”
In the beginning, Genesis spent a lot of time searching for data that would allow the company to make better business decisions. “Now, we are getting metrics on everything from opportunities to close ratios to labor overages and inventory control, the list goes on and on. The data we pull out of the system helps managers make decisions at all different levels of the company. It really informs our decisions making.”
“Q360 helps us see all the costs that are associated with a particular project. Now we have real data in the system, and actual numbers to share. If we came in under hours, we can ask, what did we do right? We can learn from our successes by asking the right questions of the data and track where the hours were being used.”
Currently, Q360 is helping Genesis develop metrics that will create accountability.
“We are moving towards a system where everyone has objectives to meet, or a number to hit,” McCarthy explains, “When you meet those objectives you are in the green, and the part of the business you are responsible for is healthy. If you’re not in the green you have to take action to improve. Q360 provides us with objective data, and that drives accountability, which is huge.”
On the third Thursday every month, Genesis has metrics day. Inventory, sales, profit margins, A/R, and much more information is shared with staff. “If you provide the correct metrics it creates accountability. If I am giving them a number to hit, I don’t have to hold their hand. They either hit it or they don’t. 360 provides us with objective data, and that drives accountability and this is huge,” says McCarthy.
“We are getting metrics from Q360 that inform business decisions with real-time data.”
Q360 is also a useful tool for staffing management, which is a top consideration for managing profitable growth. Genesis is able to determine if they are using too many sub-contractors and decide when it is the right time to make new hires – the timing here is critical for managing labor costs.
None of this was possible before Q360, when all the various systems were connected with makeshift spreadsheets. But with a single platform that can manage your technology integration business from end-to-end, you have full visibility of your data.
Is it time for you to harness the power of real-time data?
