Big data continues to transform how companies operate, regardless of industry or size. By 2019, according to Gartner, 90 percent of large enterprises will have a chief data officer. The supply chain wouldn’t be the same without big data, but the sheer amount of information generated on a daily basis by companies is staggering, and it requires a Herculean effort in order to store, analyze and then apply key insights to any endeavors.
The retail sector is one area where big data and the cloud have intersected to create meaning for organizations looking to increase profits and evolve according to consumer demand. Metrics – and the analysis required to understand their significance – is everything in the retail space. Collecting and analyzing supply chain data can improve responsiveness to customer demand and the ever-fluctuating market. Companies need to be flexible in today’s world of the increasingly global supply chain, and having the right information on hand in order to justify decisions is key.
Enterprise Data Management (EDM) and retail
One of the most important aspects of collecting and parsing through data is having a system that allows organizations to drill down into the data points and draw out actionable information, and retailers know this intimately. Supply Chain Quarterly contributor Andrew White noted that enterprise data management is quickly becoming one of the most critical aspects of running an efficient, effective supply chain.
“As data quality and consistency become increasingly important factors in supply chain performance, companies that want to catch up with the innovators will have to pay closer attention to enterprise data management,” White wrote. “That may require supply chain managers to change the way they think about and utilize data.”
In the retail world especially, product data changes at an incredible rate. As companies introduce new items into their catalogs and customer demand fluctuates, organizations have to find a way to effectively manage all of this new and evolving information.
All this big data brings with it big changes to the very structure of organizations.
The importance of the cloud
The retail sector serves as a key example of how cloud-based solutions are enabling organizations to become more flexible and scalable as the industry continues to transform. According to Business.com contributor Jonha Revesencio, by mid-2015, online retailers expected to increase their revenue by a whopping 17 percent before the end of the year, and much of that improvement was thanks to the cloud.
Cloud-based tools like EDM solutions are allowing online and brick-and-mortar retailers alike to improve their overall processes and increase revenue. By making data analysis and insights available to employees across their operations, organizations stand to gain. Deploying cloud-based tools is a money-saver, as well, because this kind of technology allows organizations to integrate easily and quickly with their current solutions.
EDM solutions from the experts at Inspirage can prove critical for data management strategies. Get in touch with Inspirage today to learn more about the Enterprise Data Management applications that can help your organization improve supply chain operations across the board.
