TECH & AI
How does access to data impact competitiveness ? Resilience is not ‘ disaster response ’. A company that is resilient is one that acts faster and better than its competition . If no company in the market is moving , you don ’ t need to move . But if they are moving – you must move faster and be smarter .
Every risk event brings the potential for a loss of market share . How you respond to these risk events determines your competitiveness . If a fast-moving consumer goods company experiences a disruption and can ’ t get its product to a retailer on time , they will lose shelf space to a competitor . This gives the competition a leg up and leads to missed revenue . Fast , reliable access to data and suppliers is crucial for successfully navigating disruptions and competing in the market .
How does siloed data affect upstream and downstream supply ? Data silos are an upstream problem . Upstream is related to strategic insights ; downstream data comes from a contractto-pay ( C2P ) system and can be operated independently from external sources .
But companies need upstream data to strengthen downstream processes , as well as to develop proper negotiations and contracts , among other tasks . Clearer data at the downstream level alone , however , won ’ t significantly improve those processes if data silos are still blocking visibility at the supplier level .
Data gets siloed because it comes from hundreds of different systems , and in different formats . Companies can ’ t properly
“ Public data is very valuable , but it ’ s not what gives you strategic advantage ”
GREGOR STÜHLER , CEO AND CO-FOUNDER ,
SCOUTBEE
clean , normalise and render upstream data on their own to make it insightful and get a full picture of a supplier . It gets even more complex when third-party data is added to the mix .
Breaking down upstream data silos is a huge value driver for organisations . The visibility drives strategic supplier decisions .
What are the main barriers to data transformation ? Unrealistic expectations . Breaking down silos is an urgent issue that can be solved with available technology , but cleaning data involves a considerable amount of hard work , yet people expect perfection on day one . But that ’ s too tall of an order .
It ’ s a chicken and egg situation : you need to start somewhere . Make a habit of constantly using and cleaning data , then start using it to make decisions . Over time , your data will get stronger and the value you derive will grow exponentially .
How can you measure transformation success ? How fast companies realise the benefits of digital transformation depends on how
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