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IBM

By Robert Kakos, Business Technology Consultant 

Remember what the Scientific Method is?

If you can’t reach back to your seventh-grade memories of Physical Science class with Mr. Hugh Mann (see what I did there), here’s a refresher: The Scientific Method is a procedure of systematic observation, measurement, experimentation, formulation, and testing.

What good ol’ Hugh didn’t tell you then though, is that the Scientific Method is not limited to the science world. Based on years of observation and learning about the science of business, I give you… (drum roll please) …

The Business Improvement Method.

A term coined by yours truly. “BIM” for short.

It’s a slight twist on the Scientific Method. The BIM is a procedure of systematic observation, measurement, experimentation, formulation, and testing, performed by business leaders, with the end-goal of improving and growing the business.improve business with big data

The essential success of either method completely depends on collecting and controlling accurate and relevant data.

Picture this: A business follows the BIM. In doing so, their data collection establishes a foundation of logical relationships, reproducible results, change, and new information and insights.

From a foundation like that, employees have the ability to create trust, strengthen influence, communicate goals, and reinforce their strategies and vision.

This encourages a fact-based business culture that consistently encourages knowledge sharing, reduces ego and biased decisions, and fosters diligence and objectivity.

The result of all of this is an organization with high performance and productivity that consistently delivers predictive results.

However, many organizations struggle to quickly derive decisions from data and act on them. They can’t build this ideal business because they struggle to lay the correct foundation.

See, agility is wrapped around the BIM. The “I” of BIM is missing without agility. Regardless of size and industry, organizations must be able to quickly convert data into action to have a profitable competitive advantage.

For example, consider the largest taxi company in the world: Uber. Uber doesn’t own a single taxi cab. Instead, it converts data into action within seconds. The same goes for the largest lodging company, travel agency, video rental, jukebox, photo album, and a host of other industry disrupters.

They all embraced converting their data into action. That’s how agile banks, insurers, software companies, and everyone in-between has to be. Business leaders today must do more with less, driving them to find new ways to be more agile and innovative. This is not a matter of choice – it is a matter of survival.

For businesses, turning data into action requires automation technology. Automation gathers data from documents, e-mails, websites, machines that create data, media broadcasts, environment sensors, and anything else that creates or holds data. Data mined into information becomes business gold.

Below are 10 easy-to-appreciate and impactful ways ECM helps a business grow:

  1. Significantly reduce operation and storage costs via automation, labor reduction, storage, and ease of access.
  2. Fewer errors in data processing and a dramatic reduction of the loss of information.
  3. Increased productivity by placing the right information in the right hands at the right time.
  4. Increased customer satisfaction as a result of accuracy, speed of service, and predictive insights.
  5. Mitigate risk through data analytics, business continuity, and data traceability.
  6. Realize economies of scale benefits through system integration.
  7. Greater insight into the business process and the ability to view and track changes.
  8. Growth of data assets that allow for better analytics and more accurate business predictions.
  9. Improved compliance and business governance.
  10. Greater collaboration and increased opportunities for ideation, innovation, and customer insights.

Similar to how the Scientific Method dramatically increases positive scientific discoveries, the same will occur with the Business Improvement Method. Organizations must understand the immense value of information and harvest as much relevant data as possible. An ECM solution easily meets an organization’s needs for gathering important data and will drive an organization towards a culture of fact-based decision making.

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About the author:

Robert is a successful serial entrepreneur who uses technology to create competitive advantages in real estate, banking, insurance, healthcare, education, retail, and manufacturing. When Robert is not involved in improving a vision, strategy, process, or project, he solves real-life mysteries and performs magic. What Robert likes most about Pyramid Solutions is helping clients implement new technology to grow their business in leaps and bounds.