Real-time data analytics provides the potential to transform how professionals businesses operate.

Rather than manually collaborating information based on past events, professional groups can use real-time analytics to generate insights on what is happening exactly now. Real-time decision making is critical for managing resources, controlling profit margins, projects and most importantly improving customer experience.

Codex Recruitment provides key ways that real-time data analytics can help support professional services significantly improve their business performance.

Effectively using your resources

Businesses continue to find it challenging to allocate the right people to the right projects at the best time. Before the rise of real-time analytics, handling resources was a manual process resulting in frequent errors. Businesses would depend on an end of month report to identify the overall performance of their resources, where they may have been underperforming, where additional capital was spent, or in areas where their targets were exceeded. Real-time analytics enables businesses to have a better grasp of utilising resources. At any specific moment, a company can measure the effectiveness of a resource and determine what changes to need to be made to improve the overall process, before they result in costly impacts on business performance.

Maximising profits with analytics

Real-time analytics can enhance the potential profits of a business by improving two important operating procedures. This includes a clear understanding of hourly bill rates and overall billable utilisation, which refers to the hours billed divided against available hours. In a real-time scenario, a business can view how many hours have been billed on a specific project and if necessary, intervene if a specific project has lower billing projections. This minimises problems developing and further impacts on overall profit margins. Being capable of making changes in real time within a project lifetime is critical, rather than waiting until a project is done.

Proven and accurate forecasting

Real-time analytics enables professionals to operate and manage their business with higher confidence and predictable information. In previous years, forecasting lacked accuracy and generally involved manual processes. Real-time analytics removes the traditional, lengthy spreadsheets. Managers can quickly view areas such as services pipeline and project backlog, what has been invoiced and what needs to be paid. Analytic tools like this can create better decision making, improved forecasts and better results for a business.

Accurate details on supply and demand

The provision of real-time information means businesses can understand what resources are available for projects. Real-time analytics accurate provides the demands of clients and then determines where resources can be used to meet the demand. Businesses can have a clearer understanding of their resource pool and how to effectively manage this resourcing moving forward. In previous years, this level of detail was not available, meaning many companies relied on manual processes to manage supply and demand.

Controlling your value leakage

There always comes a time when a business will offer a service or product at a lower than intended rate. Too much discounting, however, can result in further pressure on service organisations and cause a strain on a business. Real-time analytics enables a company to keep a close check on levels of discounting in a company and the ability to create parameters to completely control value leakage. Decision makers can then manage the level of value leakage and make informed decisions on whether changes are required.

In today’s business world, companies simply don’t have the time to manually measure financial patterns or assess the impacts of business decisions. Real-time analytics is critical in supporting businesses in eliminating costly mistakes, encouraging growth and further development.