If you ask any management team what they cannot work without, a lion’s share will tell you that it’s the insights and reporting tools. But these tools are only useful when the data dump makes sense and is put to use to create those insights. As per almost all (89%) of IT leaders, data silos are 4 foot barricades in their race to digital transformation.
To understand your growth and efficiency, you NEED to separate relevant information from the pile and boost your customer experience with strategies that are locked and loaded with any business’s most valuable asset: data. Ideally, you want to let your data drive your innovation. And we call it a data-driven business strategy.
Now, what exactly is a data-driven business strategy? To put things simply, it involves the compilation of data from several internal and external sources. The gathered data is analyzed and interpreted, and then utilized as a major factor when making business decisions.
How does this help? Instead of basing decisions on gut instinct or previous experience, business leaders can use data and facts to pinpoint the correct choice for their enterprise. Providing employees with data will also show them what they need to change or do to help the business. Businesses can make the correct decision with confidence that the data is backing them up. And the way we set this up does not have to be very complex.
You should start by putting some APIs in place to extract data from the databases, applications and other systems. The goal is to make your data slide into blocks that function to give you a solid insight into your own business. Many people use integration platforms to speed up their processes and increase team productivity by as much as 300%. With or without such platforms, you can feed these data into your analytical platforms to output a presentable insights page. You can find out more about managing your APIs here.
As time passes, you recognize the importance of security of all your data. No one wants their data stolen or to even deal with the consequences after a data breach. You need to make sure that by adding layers of security you are protecting your APIs and data from any level of infiltration. With most integration platforms you can create bubbles around your APIs and data in any situation. Among many other working security frameworks, we tailor a security framework to the specific needs of your organization.
Polishing up the APIs with the best in class security and correct composition is not the end of the story with a data-driven approach. You have to constantly keep tabs on the health of your APIs and improve its efficiency if and when any issues arise. Following the best practices ensures a significantly high ROI as you allow other teams in your organization to consume the same API to unlock data in their line-of-businesses as well.
No matter which industry your business is based in, data is your best friend. Data-driven business strategies give your enterprise an edge over the competition and can see your business through challenging times and unstable conditions. APIs are the lodestone for developing a data-based business operation and helping your business get one big step closer to digital transformation.
If you wanted to take expert support on using APIs for developing a data driven business strategy reach out to us. With our years of experience and strong industry knowledge we can surely help.
