There is a great deal of value locked up in inefficient business processes but efforts to improve those processes is often blocked by the very technology employed to power the business. No matter the industry, from financial services and manufacturing to healthcare and professional services, connecting the technology building blocks that the business depends on usually requires human intervention.
The human-powered, manual steps developed over time to connect data and analytics between different systems need to be replaced with automated processes to truly unlock a business’s full potential. The time is ripe for any business needing people to move data from one system to another to have software developed to bridge the gap.
The Mortar between the Bricks
If you can picture your different systems as bricks (CRM, ERP, scheduling, account records, etc.) consider custom software as the mortar that turns those bricks into a useful and stable structure.
For example, you may have information on a customer’s order history, satisfaction level and responses to special offers but they are all in separate systems. Being able to identify loyal customers that may be at risk of leaving would be difficult without combining the data from all three systems to find those whose orders have dropped recently, and whose satisfaction level and response to special offers is low.
Many businesses can and do create this kind of business intelligence manually, but developing an automated solution is not as difficult or expensive as you may think, and frees your people to act on the intelligence rather that spending time producing it. Manual processes seem the cheapest way to go but become expensive when you consider the cost related to the man-hours required and the potential for mistakes to occur…basically a patch that can break at any time.
Custom Software vs Off-the-Shelf Solutions
Many companies offer business automation software that may promise “drag and drop” process creation. While more powerful and flexible than early efforts, in many cases you will still find yourself altering your business processes to match the software, rather than the other way around, creating a learning curve that could hinder an effective adoption of the process by your employees.
With a custom solution built with open-source building blocks, you can be sure the software supports the process that works best for your business. It is that additional level of efficiency and productivity that custom software delivers that allows a well-planned implementation to positively impact your bottom line.
Since 2004, Triple Helix has provided data and information systems for the aerospace and manufacturing industries, as well as businesses in the service, healthcare, and non-profit sectors. Our solutions complement existing technology investments to avoid costly replacements. Contact us if you would like to schedule a risk-free consultation to see if Triple Helix can help your company better organize, access, and analyze your data.
