In our hyper-connected business world, organisations are often siloed and sometimes spread across multiple locations. Combine that with the fact that the majority of employees are ‘hooked in’ to company-wide systems via their smart devices, and you have a raft of users able to access data and alter it.
The problem? This often creates version-control issues that not only impact productivity and the effectiveness of your business intelligence (BI), but can harm your reputation and profitability.
What is a ‘single version of the truth’?
When discussing ‘truths’ in the form of BI, it’s important to clarify the difference between a ‘version’ of the truth and a ‘source’ of the truth.
A single source of truth refers to “a data storage principle to always source a particular piece of information from one place”. The single version of the truth is the operating data that an entire company agrees is the real and trusted information.
The issue with fragmented data
There are two crucial factors when considering any type of business data: quality and governance. Without one or the other, it’s impossible to derive accurate metrics from any BI. But because siloing in business remains such a rampant issue – across all markets and sectors – there’s an ongoing risk that this will create ‘competing’ versions of the truth.
For companies that have multiple versions of the truth, there exists the danger of contradictory answers pulled from the same data. And when ‘multiple truths’ really means ‘no truths at all’, that’s a lose-lose for all parties.
Integrated Planning using single version of the truth
IBM Planning Analytics is your ideal application to facilitate integrated planning. It is not a point solution for each planning requirement. The data and drivers utilised in reporting and planning processes are consistent across the enterprise. Coupled with a sleek Workspace Dashboard and a excel interface it appeals to both an analytical user base and general report consumers.
Is your organisation guilty of spending a large amount of time reconciling multiple versions of truth or worse making decisions based on flawed data being presented?
Would a centralised business intelligence solution help you take advantage of your data? Contact Octane today to find out how we can help.