There sits tremendous intelligence in any business. Whether it is the product designs, marketing strategy, customer database or historical accounting trends, great value can be extracted from all these sources. Tapping into this intelligence is key to enable management to understand their business and to make informed decisions.
In the past it was like pulling teeth to get quality BI (business intelligence) out of my businesses. It was strewn all over the place. A customer database spreadsheet here, a list of open quotes there, the GL somewhere else and so the list continued.
Because it was so difficult to tap into the BI, my management team and I often managed from the "gut" only. Now don't get me wrong, any good business man/woman needs a good "gut". But it cannot be the primary source for making decisions.
Consider a pilot of a plane who also need to use their intuition and "gut" when the weather gets rough. Their "gut" is greatly enhanced by the team, monitors and tools around them. It would be foolish to only use "gut" to make decisions when people's lives are at stake.
In business people's livelihood are at stake so investing in BI tools is important to help protect our team and customers.
