Data Optimization: Make the Most of Your Data

Businesses today rely heavily on the data they collect to help increase their profits and maximize their workload. But it’s difficult to correctly implement all of that information when the data and the systems collecting them have not been curated specifically for the unique data needs of your industry. You can collect all the data in the world, but can you actually say you’re making the most of it to improve your company day in and day out?

That’s where data optimization comes in. Data optimization is the process businesses use to improve the quality and effectiveness of their data. Your technology should be doing most of this work for you, but keep in mind that the processes that are right for one type of business aren’t necessarily right for a business in your industry vertical. 

When it comes to improving data quality surrounding the projects that sit at the heart of professional services success, services organizations should look for purpose-built project management software that is specifically designed to extract and transform the data that makes sense for services leaders, cleaning out any inaccuracies and presenting key data in a readable, digestible format. When you harness data optimization, you can visualize trends and predict future ones, catch issues early to make adjustments as needed, and automate your regular reporting. 

Easily Visualize Trends

To properly use your data, you need to have access to it all in one place where it’s easy to understand. The right project management software should align with data optimization processes that create actionable data-informed goals for your business. This makes it easy to visualize trends within your company and adjust roles as needed to reach your goals.

You should be able to look at trends that directionally analyze key performance indicators (KPIs) like billable utilization, profit margin, and the proportion of projects being delivered on budget. When you see these trends laid out in front of you, your operational data becomes clear and you can use it to improve your day-to-day operations.

Because data optimization helps you visualize trends, you can increase your company’s efficiency. You can make more strategic decisions with confidence because you have data-driven recommendations. And with project management software purpose built for the intricacies of the professional services project lifecycle, you can finally eliminate confusing spreadsheets because all of your data is easily viewed within automatically generated reports.

Predict Future Trends and Changes

Project managers and resource managers can use the data they collect now to predict future trends and changes in the months and years to come. Look for project management software that surfaces data optimization forecast metrics like revenue, margins, and resource capacity. These trends help you get a complete picture of projected demand and accurately forecast trends because the data collected reaches granular levels, like estimated revenue per team member.

Catch Issues Early and Make Adjustments

When you focus on data optimization, you can catch issues early and make adjustments as needed to save time and money. For example, with a focus on skills management data, information is broken down by skills across the resource pool, mapped against skills requirements for current and upcoming project commitments. This can help you see every possibility for your resources against roles on your current projects, with the ability to optimally match people’s skills to work and see trade-offs with different staffing combinations. This also allows you to catch any problems before projects even kick-off, ensuring resource managers are able to make the right adjustments to your workforce in order to positively impact performance and profit.

Plus, an emphasis on skills-related data optimization helps you calculate your resource capacity so you can make detailed plans that make the most of your billable hours and resources. When you optimize your data, resource planning becomes more effective, helping you see any potential resourcing conflicts on projects sooner so they can be addressed.

Automate Regular Reporting

Reports can be clunky and confusing if your data isn’t optimized for your business, which is why you need project management software that sends you automated reports that contain relevant, accurate, helpful information. Look for flexible configuration tools that visualize, customize, and contextualize your data for greater clarity. That means you have up-to-date regular reporting delivered right to you without having to take the time to hunt down the information you need to do your job. That takes one more task off your plate so you can focus on more important matters at hand.

Data optimization can be tricky, but the Kantata Professional Services Cloud makes the most of your data and provides you insights that give you the clarity, control, and confidence you need to act decisively for true company-wide improvements.