B
usiness intelligence is "the methods and tech-
nologies that gather, store, report, and analyze
business data to help people make business
decisions." Although technically this defini-
tion is accurate, the term BI is often used rather
loosely even within our own industry, inferring that any
particular solution labeled BI will be inclusive of all informa-
tion necessary for managers to make timely, accurate and
informed decisions on a daily basis across the entire enter-
prise. Often this is not the case due to data limits such as the
number and quality of data sources involved, the breadth
of content satisfying departmental requirements, access
to the information by those that need it, the BI vendor's
knowledge of the specific industry and finally, the cost. Best-
in-class BI systems must support real-time decision making
in a fluid business environment with the goals of increasing
revenue, decreasing expenses and improving operational
efficiencies. This is achieved by implementing the practice
of business performance management "the set of manage-
ment and analytic processes that enables the management
of an organization's performance to achieve one or more
pre-selected goals."
The era of looking back to see how you did last month are
over as margins become narrower and time to react shrinks.
In today's increasingly competitive market, dealers must
look forward, establish clear goals and monitor them daily
to avoid costly surprises. Through the use of well-designed
BI dashboards, leading dealers can now spot and correct
such issues quickly and proactively to reach predictable
month-end results.
It all starts wIth a plan
The importance of financial planning and ongoing finan-
cial stability cannot be overstated. At a minimum, such
planning includes the development of a profit plan as well
as understanding your banking plan and respecting the
important relationship that you have with your banker. The
development of your desired monthly goals and segmenting
and monitoring them down to a meaningful level will not
only provide your company with purpose and your employ-
ees with a path to success, but will also assist in keeping you in
a state of heightened awareness of your priorities. This allows
BUSINESS OPERATIONS
Business Intelligence
Why look back when you can access real-time data?
By RoBeRt LevIns, managIng dIRectoR of angus PeRfoRmance advIsoRs
28 AUGUST 2014 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www.fueloilnews.com
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