In our last post we discussed five practical steps companies can take to unlock the value in critical remote information. In this post we’ll discuss the first step which is to determine where your potential remote information currently resides.
It’s basically a task of searching the enterprise for possible opportunities. But where do you start? Value is almost always created through increased revenue and profits or decreased operating expenses -- these are your best places to start. Table 1, below, provides a framework for assessing the most probable places to find remote information that can be leveraged into new value.
TABLE 1
§ People – Do your remote people have information that is valuable to your business or your clients?
§ Assets – Do you have remote assets that you need to track?
§ Paperwork – Are you using paper forms that slow down billing and cash flow?
§ Data – Is there data that if connected would increase business speed and profitability?
§ Communication – Would reliable communication with remote workers increase business performance?
People are the natural source to consider first. Quite simply, do you have remote workers outside the enterprise who in the course of their daily activities gather or have access to information that could help you make good business decisions faster? Do they have knowledge that can be turned into better client outcomes and increased satisfaction? Or perhaps you have remote workers whose safety is your concern and knowing their status is important to you.
Assets are the second area to examine. Any kind of fleet, whether on water or on the road, offers tremendous potential for information value. Equipment is another area to look at as well. Knowing the location and status of high-value assets gives you the ability to deploy them rapidly, reduce downtime, increase performance and monitor their security. Assets prove tremendously valuable in both monetary terms and in potential business interruption when loss occurs.
Paperwork is third area to examine, especially where there are remotely administered paper-based forms. The idea is to turn paper-based forms into electronic forms providing information in real-time A good example are the fuel-oil suppliers that have turned paper delivery tickets into electronic forms sent real-time. Cash flow is increased considerably when the driver’s record is turned into emailed billing statements sent to customers before the truck is out of the driveway.
Our last two most likely places are data and communication. Any form of remote data offers potential for increasing value by accessing in real-time the information it provides. Access to this data might help speed up decision making, reduce risks or increase business performance. Communication with remote workers can speed up the flow of business knowledge or create an environment for increased productivity.
We’ll address Step Two, assessing exactly how you capture the information, in our next post.
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