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Can Analytics Change the Way Companies Collaborate and Consume Technology?

Can we honestly say that our professional day starts with a morning clearly with intentions as to what we should be doing, how we should be working, whom we should be working with and when should we get things done by? There is an option for all of us that is Analytics. Now, can Analytics combined with smartly-enabled collaboration tools make a difference in how we choose to spend our time?

Top teams and organizations make decisions every day on how best to achieve their goals, but do we have all of the information required to make the right decisions at the right moment? Will Big data, predictive modeling with connected devices that provide real-time insight be the next new trend to change the way we work?

But to while it comes to save time, I honestly do not think we have mastered the art of collaboration because we still seem to be working harder and not smarter. It seems as though the technology we use works us, more than we work the technology. Why is it that we still find ourselves completing work task the same way we did back in history? In our personal lives, we definitely have new levels of multitasking and time runs by, but in business have we really gained the most with our utmost precious valued commodity called time?

We exist in a time where information is accessible at the tap of a button. With the rise of new gadgets, apps on our iPhone and portable devices comes the influx of new “techies.” But, why then we are still stuck with unproductive tasks which no more than a waste of time? In today’s world, we have Instant Messaging at our workstations and even video endpoints to connect us with anyone in the world. Still, we find people spend 50% of their time in the wasteful, ineffec-tual and uninspiring meetings, ruining their fifteen to twenty hours a week. With all the advancements in technology, can’t this ill-favored corporate pastime be executed better?

Technology Collaboration and Consumption
The goal has always been to collaborate better. Access to basic information across multiple data sources coupled just in time could enable us to have insights on who we should invite to the meeting, selection of collaboration tools that yield the fastest results and meeting spaces that will generate the best outcome and highest output of participation from key team members during collaboration. For this new level of collaboration to be the most effective should the information come before you book the meeting or afterwards. At UC Interlink, we think about everyday how to enable IT services engine to yield recommendations with the right outcome, when you’re ready to consume it and way before it turns into another wasteful meeting.

With the right data sources and business intelligence, the options are prescriptive and predictive, and limitless. Imagine improving your time to market for a new product launch, having absolute focus and team alignment, via tracking behaviors of the team, while getting recommended efficiencies to keep the team working at its best.

With this platform of intelligence, the Business Leaders can target key performance metrics that enable them to devise strategies, because if you are in such a place, then results matter, gaining time matters and the behaviors of the workforce matter. Regardless of the industry or application, incorporating the use of data and analytics provides the organization the ability to move from a defensive to an offensive posture. Currently, we are working on algorithms that can think and recognize patterns, predictions and choices based on the collective knowledge.

Amazon’s Model
The list of technology giants that have figured out how to solve the problem of what is best to consume when you need it is a short list with one name at the top of it; Amazon.

Amazon, attributes 40% of its revenue to recommendations the e-commerce giant makes to its customers, based on their search histories and previous purchases. For example, last week when I wanted to add lighting to my walk-in closet, I searched Amazon, not only did my Amazon search, locate the best reviewed product, it also recommended the right size Amazon batteries. This is a simple idea, but has limitless potential that can be applied to how users can consume valued IT resources within the enterprise.

Let’s examine how this concept can be used to optimize IT service delivery. By tracking and mapping work patterns, preferences, daily activities, past beha-viors, technology usages, connected devices and networked systems; we can recommend the right tool based on the role of the worker, key performance goals, and business outcomes or even based on defined user experience strategy. This is what I call the Internet of Things (IoT) personified.

Companies have to think about how they want to spend their time and investments in software applications. Purchasing collaboration software tools in isolation is not a silver bullet, but when combined with technology adoption expertise, user analytics and smartly-enabled devices and software, the possibilities are endless. At their core, big data solutions are designed to provide the right information, to the right person, at the right time.

The Road to Business Analytic Adoption Services
My personal advice to companies is to stop wasting time and resources, stop making the same mistakes and actually challenge your technology partners to think differently about the outcomes you want. This can be achieved by creating and defining a Collaboration Strategy that will optimize how you do things and empower the best people to deliver their best work.

Here are some Collaboration Strategy best practices

  • Have intention behind every software tool, work station and conference room than can be enabled by your cloud and network capabilities
  • Understand how all of your dipartite software collaboration tools and devices can be seamlessly connected to each other.
  • Let the user experience drive your technology decisions and not the other way around.
  • Understand the behaviors of every user within your workforce to identify what is working well and what can be improved to obtain a workforce transformation.
  • Don’t set out on this journey using only instinct to answer tough questions; rather let the data drive your decisions coupled with experts that know your environment and how to interpret the data to achieve your key goals.
  • Use the Internet of Things (IoT) as a strategy to tie unlikely data sources together to make better decision and improvements in the way you work.
  • Devise a game plan based on your company’s trends, and vulnerabilities (not obvious by the naked eye) to enable your teams to work smarter and be better prepared than the competition.
  • Hold your technology partners accountable to not selling you another technology service or product, rather “incentify” them to deliver an outcome that you can track and measure.

Collaboration at Its Best
This kind of business insight will change the game, reduce loss of revenue and take technology investments in collaboration software tools to new levels of value. Let’s face it, our top assets are the people with whom we work.
In the end, technologies are designed to help you work better and get things done in time or we should say save your time and compete to win!