Over the past decade, businesses have developed the capability to collect data, enabling them to access the information that provides potential insights into their users. But even with this progress, companies are limited. When analyzing data and finding new opportunities for betterment gets too time-consuming, it often gets lost in the fray. Without these processes and analytics, data is just noise.
How can you add value to your data and drive success for your business? The answer is simple—digital transformation. See how it can benefit your organization.
How does leveraging data lead to positive business outcomes?
We can’t discuss the benefits of digital transformation without exploring how data analytics can drive exceptional outcomes within your company. By enabling informed decision-making, agencies are able to boost overall efficiency and enhance customer service, giving them a valuable edge against their competitors. Data analytics and actionable insights can be presented in different formats, depending on the field, but the results are the same.
Common outcomes seen when organizations implement actionable insights:
- Operational efficiency
- Improved customer service
- Market share growth
- Better decision-making
- Mitigated risk
- Reduced costs
- Sustainable innovation and growth
What is digital transformation?
When it was first introduced, digital transformation referred simply to the act of moving traditional, outdated operations to new technological platforms. These days, it means so much more. Digital transformation describes the efforts taken to fundamentally change and reshape how an organization operates and delivers long-lasting value.
There are countless examples of digital transformation across various industries. Each one demonstrates how companies have utilized various forms of technology and processes to innovate their business models. From Netflix shifting its company from a DVD-by-mail service to one of the most globally used streaming platforms to health organizations shifting away from paper-based records to telemedicine to local governments introducing online portals for tasks such as applying for permits or renewing licenses, digital transformation can be found all around us.
Core Pillars of Digital Transformation
The core pillars of digital transformation are centered around technology working with humans and organizations for efficiency, innovation and customer-first experiences.
- Technology – Cloud technology, AI automation, IT infrastructure and cybersecurity.
- Data-Driven Decisions – Using data as an asset for insights into decisions.
- Customer Experience – Technology and innovation centered around customers.
- Agility – Streamlining operations and automating workflows, while creating a roadmap that aligns with business goals.
Technologies used in digital transformation
- Cloud Computing
- Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
- Internet of Things (IoT)
- Advanced Analytics
- Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality
- Blockchain
- API
How can data be used in digital transformation?
Data is the foundation of a successful digital transformation. Without it, leaders wouldn’t be able to make strategic decisions, optimize processes or find grounded innovation for future ideas. Organizations use data to gain crucial insights into their team and clientele, build evidence-based strategies and remain competitive in their field.
Efforts to digitally transform an organization almost always revolve around data. Integrating and aligning any relevant data provides decision-makers with what they need to create valuable, actionable insights across the platform. This remains relevant for all business models, even if they’re already digital.
What does data analytics mean?
Data analytics is a term frequently discussed in boardrooms, industry conventions and department meetings, but what exactly is it? In short, data analytics is the process of storing, organizing and analyzing raw data to gain essential insights and answer vital questions.
The importance of data analytics
Let’s face it: data is only as valuable as its findings. Prioritizing data analytics within private or public sector digital transformation enables leadership to understand their target audience, increase productivity and create an evidence-based strategy for problem-solving.
While there seems to be a mountain of data available to review for every process and task, using data to drive objectives can help create better outcomes. Instead of getting buried in the data, these actionable insights enable strategic change within an organization that is evidence-based and yields more beneficial outcomes.
Since they can make faster changes when problems arise, companies that use data analytics find themselves with a competitive advantage time and again. If you believe your organization could benefit from these changes, we recommend hiring a consultant to review the gathered data and recommend techniques best suited for your organization. These experts offer an objective perspective and bring specialized skills to any project related to digital transformation outcomes relevant to them.
Data analytics vs. actionable data insights
By definition, data analytics is the process of examining raw data to find a pattern. On the flip side, actionable data insights are the actionable conclusions drawn from that analysis. Think of these terms as the “how” versus the “what’s next.” One is born from the other—yet both are equally vital steps to digital transformation.
What is an actionable insight?
Actionable insights provide organizations with specific recommendations for what to do or implement based on the company’s analyzed data. These actionable business insights are data-driven, specific and relevant to the problem at hand. If leadership follows the actionable insights given to them, the result will be measurable improvements to their business operations.
5 key characteristics of actionable data insights
- Actionable: The data insight provides a clear path towards decisions
- Relevant: The data insight addresses specific qualms and questions
- Timely: All insights are delivered within a timeframe that enables effective action
- Comprehensible: Actionable data insights should be presented in a clear way so that anyone, not just data experts, can understand them
- Predictive: The most effective actionable data insights forecast future trends to provide practical foresight to the company
Insight-driven outcomes are valued across industries
Across numerous industries, companies are analyzing and using their user data to improve processes, work environments and customer experiences. From finding ways to increase productivity to reducing operational costs and improving the decision-making timeline, actionable insight-driven outcomes can be seen across industries.
Examples of insight-driven outcomes
Delivering data-driven outcomes to healthcare organizations
In this specific instance, to enhance cancer patient care, the healthcare organization was looking for a better, more succinct way to predict oncology costs and identify errors in patient claim authorizations. Our solution? Develop an AI-powered cost-predicting model trained on past cases and implement it across the board to provide accurate projected costs for current patients.
The team also designed a cancer regimen reclassification model that analyzed past authorizations to identify and correct mislabeled regimens, ensuring everything was up to date with current standard classifications. After implementing these AI-driven solutions, the organization can now budget and plan more effectively, reducing foreseeable costs and ensuring accurate results.
Delivering outcomes using IT insights
Our work with one of the world’s largest convenience retailers, Circle K, is the perfect example of how powerful digital transformation outcomes can be in IT. With over 14,000 stores in multiple countries, the company began searching for a way to modernize, automate and hyperscale its systems to enhance the customer and employee experience.
We delivered a comprehensive range of IT services, including, but not limited to, new infrastructure, accessible and visible data, end-user computing, automation, quality and assurance. Now, with our support, Circle K will be able to unlock a larger capacity for strategic initiatives in the future.
Delivering outcomes with government insights
There are countless instances of digital transformation outcomes making a difference across government organizations at both the federal and state levels. For example, a few years ago, we were approached by a federal agency that oversees over half a million trust fund accounts. The challenge? Their legacy CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system was outdated and required modernization.
With help from our team, they transformed their outdated CRM into a cloud-based solution. Once the new system was deployed, the agency saw significant improvements, including automated workflows, enhanced case management, a more user-friendly interface and improved system uptime.
Delivering data-driven outcomes with banking insights
In the age of digital banking, it should come as no surprise that the nation’s top banks have benefited from digital transformation. In one such case, a leading North American bank found itself under increased pressure to meet rising customer demands, which were at odds with its operational constraints. As the call centers got more and more overwhelmed, the bank wanted to find a way to provide customers with a 24/7 solution that enabled them the flexibility and convenience to manage payments and requests on their own terms.
We partnered together and implemented a debt collection customer self-service portal. This collections platform, integrated with our collections solution, used real-time APIs to enable secure digital engagement without any additional operational burdens. The outcomes included a significant reduction in failed contact attempts, a nomination as “Project of the Year,” and $2.1M in benefits delivered within the first 100 days of use.
Delivering outcomes to energy and utility companies
One of the largest gas and electric utility companies in the U.S. approached us to streamline processes and workflows to support quicker workforce mobilization—all while increasing customer loyalty and satisfaction.
Our solution? Designing a deployment strategy leveraging the CGI OpenGrid Workforce and OpenGrid Field solutions, with configuration flexibility to develop a rapid rollout scheme for each subsidiary. After it was fully integrated, mobile geospatial mapping, street-level routing, GPS, field automation and enterprise scheduling were all improved.
Delivering data-driven outcomes to insurance organizations
When it comes to an insurance carrier, pricing is the key to success. Our Ratabase solution is widely considered the “gold standard” in insurance rating, supporting a wide range of business classes and with an average client satisfaction score of 9.8 out of 10. But what does it do?
When an insurance company is looking for a modernized pricing platform, it turns to Ratabase. Implementing this solution empowers leaders within the organization to develop innovative products, manage rates, streamline internal operations and perform competitive analysis.
Important considerations when using data to deliver outcomes
As you review the data and outline the necessary steps to achieve digital transformation success, there are a few key factors worth considering before making any decisions. First, ensure the data you’ve pulled is accurate, complete and consistent across all datasets. Double-checking the quality of your data will help you avoid a flawed analysis.
You and your consultant should also look into data governance. Establish clear policies and procedures across the board to decide who has access, usage and ownership of the data. This is where robust security measures, such as encryption, can come into play.
Challenges of data-driven outcomes:
- Quality—If incomplete, inaccurate or biased data is used by mistake, it can lead to inaccuracies and flawed analysis
- Integration—Data can sometimes exist in separate systems that are difficult to connect for a complete view
- Access—Data may not be readily available when needed or may have harmful gaps
- Privacy—Managing and protecting sensitive data while also making it accessible to all who need it can come with a significant security risk
What are the advantages of using a consultant for driving digital transformation outcomes?
Expertise—Consultants bring extensive knowledge, experience and access to technology and tools that may be otherwise unavailable to your organization.
External perspective—Consultants offer an unbiased, outsider view that helps identify the blind spots an internal team could have missed.
Time—Consultants can focus exclusively on a specific project and see it through to completion without having to bounce back and forth between other assignments.
3 Common Data-Driven Services
Business Consulting Services – Help organizations adopt technologies while enhancing customer experience and driving innovation. Includes cloud computing, cyber security and AI.
Managed Services – The use of managed services are foundational by providing expertise, scalability and proactive management. These include IT managed services, cybersecurity managed services and more.
AI Services – Creation of AI automations and predictive tools to reengineer processes. This can include natural language processing, IoT (internet of things), automation, data analytics, generative AI and more.
The CGI difference
We partner with organizations to help deliver measurable digital transformation outcomes. With decades of experience, our consultants are able to help modernize operations, harness and analyze game-changing data and accelerate growth and development. Discover how our services and solutions can benefit your company today.
