Organisations today rely heavily on data to make informed decisions that will yield high-value results. Therefore, unplanned line downtime, material waste, overproduction, quality-related losses, and poor use of assets are just some of the obvious reasons why organisations lose substantial amounts of money every year. There is, however, a more subtle form of waste that causes as much financial damage if not more: inconsistent and/or inaccurate data. In our fervent pursuit to be more on-demand and datacentric, we have embraced cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and enhanced analytics to make the most of every shred of customer data, but in doing so, we have let data quality control take a backseat.
Inconsistent or inaccurate data results in flawed insights and poor decision making. It impacts on productivity and growth and ultimately customer relationships. KPMG’s 2019 Global CEO Outlook report further underscores this point by stating that there is a “need [for CEOs] to balance data-driven insight into customer needs and requirements with their own expertise and intuition”. In this regard, the report found that 71% of CEOs disregard data-driven insights because it is perceived as inconsistent to the extent that the data was contrary to their own experience.
To eliminate waste resulting from inconsistent or inaccurate data, organisations need access to dependable and reliable data that can facilitate continuous improvement. Just how much is inconsistent or inaccurate data really costing us? And what can you do to address the issue before it spreads? Let’s take a look at three possible explanations for inconsistent and inaccurate data:
- It is a company problem, not an IT problem
A 2013 study conducted by Gartner highlighted the fact that data quality (or a lack thereof) is costing companies more than $14 million annually. “Bad data” was already then, a looming threat. Fast-forward to how much more connected we are today; it is evident that this problem has compounded exponentially.
- The technology used to manage and organise IOT data is part of the problem
Many IOT systems are poorly designed and incorrectly implemented; there is a lack of business processes and limited guidance on how to maintain life cycles and maintain IOT devices. Furthermore, best practices to guide IOT developers are not readily available.
- Human interpretation is a further obstacle to efficient data management as human error can lead to errors in the analysis which in turn result in financial losses
Humans are the weakest organisational link; while computers will do as they are programmed to do, humans do not, which highlights the makes need for a workplace security framework even more decisive. Twenty-five per cent of companies struggling with IOT security reported losses of at least $34 million in the last 24 months.
These challenges nevertheless create opportunities to leverage IOT and to collaborate with a quality IOT solution provider to collect data, forecast demand and so remove human error and inconsistencies. Since there are numerous options available and new IOT tools are created all the time it can be a daunting task to narrow down your options, especially if you are uncertain about what exactly you need.
Here are a few pointers to consider when choosing your IOT solution and IOT solution provider:
- The IOT solution should have an immediate impact that results in a noticeable improvement to the organisation’s current state of data.
- It should be able to leverage both real-time and historical data including customers, employees, processes, and products.
- It’s foundation should be solid enough so that new technologies such as predictive analytics and demand forecasting can be easily utilised.
- Scalability and adaptability should be based on volume, speed and variety yet be able to keep data valid and reliable.
Polymorph helps organisations extract insights from their operational data to gain efficiency, grow revenue and increase customer engagement. Our IoT platform and user focused product development processes allow them to build IoT products across many industries and unlock real business value for their customers.
