The dynamic nature of the modern-day business landscape, combined with globalization and hyper-competition, has compelled numerous companies to adopt matrix organizational structures for better efficiency and profitability.
However, managing resources in a matrix structure has its own challenges, such as scheduling conflicts, poor workforce utilization, lowered productivity, costly hiring/firing cycles, skill gaps, etc.
With many organizations expanding their workforce across geographical boundaries, companies need advanced solutions to leverage their global talent pool effectively. In addition, they need real-time and historical data to make smart decisions and beat market volatility.
This is where real-time Business Intelligence interface in resource management software comes in handy. It provides data-driven insights that allow companies to combat resourcing challenges and stay ahead of the curve.
This blog explains the benefits of real-time business intelligence in resource management software such as SAVIOM.
Let’s begin.
1. Business Intelligence: Definition and Components
Business intelligence is a procedural and technical architecture that captures, stores, and analyzes raw data into actionable insights such as reports, dashboards, graphs, and charts. BI tools help drive efficiency and profitability by allowing companies to base their strategic and operational business decisions on historical data and trends instead of guesswork.
For organizations that operate in fast-paced environments and require live business updates, real-time BI can enable them to meet their dynamic needs. It helps forecast trend analysis based on current and historical data. Furthermore, it allows quick detection of critical issues and prevents potential downtime. Therefore, RTBI helps firms stay forewarned of risks, improve operational efficiency, and enhance competitiveness.
As a complex tool, business intelligence encompasses various components. They are as follows:
- Online Analytical Processing (OLAP)
OLAP is a technology that analyzes business information multi-dimensionally to support trend analysis, complex calculations, and data modeling.
- Corporate Performance Management (CPM)
CPM is defined as the combination of methodologies, processes, metrics, and systems used to monitor and manage an organization’s business performance.
- Real-Time Business Intelligence (RTBI)
Real-time BI leverages data warehouses and business analytics to analyze real-time data streams, facilitating quick decision-making.
- Data Warehousing
A data warehouse is a centralized data repository. The process of cleaning, structuring, and consolidating data from various heterogeneous sources for further processing is known as data warehousing.
- Data Sources
A data source is a repository of department-specific information from a single line of business, such as finance, marketing, legal, etc.
Now that we understand the basics of business intelligence, let’s learn the benefits of real-time BI in resource management.
2. Benefits of real-time BI in resource management
Real-time BI in resource management has many advantages. Enlisted below are the top benefits:
2.1. Facilitates data-driven decision making
BI-embedded resource management software helps managers gain real-time insights into vital resource metrics. It includes demand, availability, capacity, utilization, cost rate, location, etc. The tool integrates and displays all resource-centric data on a centralized platform, providing 360-degree visibility of the organizational workforce.
Furthermore, the various in-built reports facilitate data-driven decision-making. It enables managers to identify anomalies and implement course-corrective measures. For example, forecast vs. actual financial reports helps managers identify financial variance and take remedial action immediately. Thus, it helps to keep the project budget under control.
2.2. Eliminates resourcing bottlenecks
Business intelligence and its powerful analytics help managers eliminate guesswork and approximation when creating a resource plan. It provides accurate data that facilitate the identification of various resourcing challenges before it becomes a significant bottleneck for the organization. Therefore, it prevents project delays and workflow disruptions.
For example, with the help of capacity vs. demand reports, the manager can identify resource shortfalls and skill gaps in advance. Consequently, they can use corrective measures such as upskilling/retraining, out-rotation and backfill strategy, or hiring to mitigate the gap. This helps avoid last-minute firefighting, prevent overutilization of existing employees, and ensure successful project delivery.
2.3. Provides configurable dashboards and reports
BI tools analyze large volumes of complex organizational data and convert them into readable reports, graphs, and dashboards. The BI dashboards in advanced resource management solutions can be configured and viewed from multiple dimensions. Furthermore, the administrative interfaces provide role-based access, preventing information overload.
For example, resource managers can view and analyze the billable, non-billable, and strategic utilization of the employees under their span of control in real-time. On the other hand, project managers can view the utilization of the resources working on various projects under their supervision. Therefore, the ability to slice and dice the resource data enables managers to maintain operational efficiency while avoiding information overload.
2.4. Ensures optimal resource utilization
The chronic challenge of sub-optimal utilization results from inadequate visibility into critical resource metrics. However, with BI analytics, managers can monitor and track utilization levels of resources across the enterprise. They can use color-coded utilization heatmaps to determine whether resources are over or underutilized. Furthermore, they can identify whether the resources are working on billable or non-billable activities.
As a result, they can ensure uniform workload distribution and prevent over/ underutilization. Additionally, they can mobilize resources from non-billable to billable project activities to enhance productive utilization. For example, after analyzing the utilization reports, the manager identified that 10% of the workforce is overloaded. Consequently, they redistribute the additional workload among the other employees to balance it. Thus, it helps prevent overutilization and optimizes the resource health index.
2.5. Helps future-proof workforce
A BI-embedded resource management tool offers advanced forecasting and capacity planning functionalities. Using these features, managers can get foresight into pipeline project demands in terms of skillsets, competencies, numbers, cost, and location. Therefore, they can initiate appropriate training/upskilling to upgrade the capabilities of the resource pool and equip them with advanced skill sets for future projects.
Moreover, based on the company’s strategic goals, managers can plan to create a robust talent pipeline and mitigate skill gaps proactively. They can leverage the tool’s competency matrix to facilitate IDP (Individual Development Plan) and L&D initiatives for employees’ professional development. As a result, it allows organizations to build a highly skilled and future-ready workforce.
Conclusion
Reat-time business intelligence helps companies derive maximum value from their data and facilitate real-time optimization. In addition, it offers advanced pattern recognition that enables them to anticipate and avoid expensive mistakes. Therefore, an enterprise-grade BI-enabled resource management solution like Saviom allows organizations to strengthen their decision-making process and enhance profit margins.
