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February 15, 2023
3 signs it's time for a modern data platform
A modern data platform (MDP) is a framework for efficiently collecting, managing and analysing data. For some organisations, it's obvious when it’s time to consider one, but for others, the signs creep up slowly. If you’re experiencing some of these common challenges, it’s often a sign that your organisation is ready for one.
1. Data is siloed in multiple internal/external sources
Data really is everywhere, and not in a good way.
Does this sound like you?
- Grappling with siloed data from multiple internal & external sources.
- Multiple spreadsheet handling.
- It's time-consuming & costly to locate and collate data for analysis.
- Data is often unreliable - out of date, incorrect.
- Limited or no self-service reporting.
- "Data rich and information poor".
An MDP can help. It will allow you to:
- Remove spreadsheets by creating centralised, integrated and accessible data (in a data lake, lakehouse or data warehouse).
- Automate your data loads and reduce manual intervention.
- Create trustworthy data, especially if you implement data governance.
- Easily find and create reports/dashboards.
2. You're struggling to produce reports from multiple sources
It's common for organisations to source data from separate data sources for reporting and analysis.
Here's an example.
Let's say you have Power BI financial reporting for Dynamics 365 Business Central. That works well until you need to start including and integrating other data that isn't housed within Dynamics 365 Business Central, e.g., Salesforce data. Businesses often end up with a multitude of disparate reports, without effectively integrating their data. They become cumbersome, it’s hard to find the right report and they are difficult to maintain.
Does this sound like you?
- Struggling to create useful reports from multiple source systems.
- Difficulty identifying & understanding actionable insights due to multiple reports.
- Developing, enhancing and maintaining Power BI reports is time-consuming.
- Inconsistent, unreliable reports.
- You can’t easily analyse trends over time.
An MDP can help. It will allow you to:
- Improve your data quality & data consistency.
- Get a 360 degree view of your business without producing multiple reports.
- Easily identify patterns and behaviours buried in years of data.
- Reduce the number of reports you need to develop.
- Eliminate duplicate reports all reporting similar information.
- Start trusting your data.
3. You don't have visual dashboards
Dashboards make it easier to understand your data – you can measure trends, identify opportunities and catch outliers in seconds. These indicators are the key to maximise your business opportunities. The insights you didn't see and those decisions you didn't make could be the difference between success and failure.
Does this sound like you?
- Difficulty understanding and explaining data.
- Difficulty in identifying patterns, trends, and relationships in the data.
- Difficulty in telling a story using data.
- Too many reports and not enough insights.
An MDP can help. It will allow you to:
- Create dashboards that help you understand critical data ‘at a glance’ from various sources.
- Easily access and analyse business KPI’s.
- See changes to sales, customer behaviour and costs over time.
- Get ahead of the curve – be data driven.
Next Steps ...
One major advantage of an MDP is its scalability. Whether you’re a medium-sized business or an enterprise, we can easily optimise it to meet your overall needs. If you identify with any of the above, book our Modern Data Platform 'Let's Assess' – a 2-week engagement that scopes out your current state and explores how an MDP can help.