Slow and steady may have won the race, but only in a children’s book. Think you have time to transition? Think you’re moving at a good pace? Think again. The rate at which you’re digitalizing your business could be the most critical business decision you make. It may seem like a daunting task, but digitalization will actually create efficiencies, reduce risks and cut costs. So why wait? The ability to leverage technology today for your benefit can help achieve previously unattainable business objectives.

With fluctuating oil and gas prices and the recent increase in merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, companies need to re-evaluate the value of structured data. Poorly structured, inaccurate or non-existent data, may find companies on the losing end of a potential deal. The quality and quantity of available data as part of an acquisition is becoming the linchpin to success and businesses must focus on key data at the earliest stages of current and future operations and M&A evaluations. Bad data can significantly impair the value of an investment.

Key considerations include:

• Asset value
• Operational optimization and efficiency
• Streamlining processes
• Reduce risks of environmental liabilities
• ESG Environmental, Social, Governance
• Emissions management

Information is one of the most valuable assets in a business and certainly not just for mergers and acquisitions. Leadership must place the highest priority on committing to, and investing in their corporate data or they will lose their competitive advantage. Who isn’t striving to cut costs and improve efficiencies? Lean times call for lean and efficient solutions.

Many organizations have relied heavily on Excel spreadsheets to manage complex business needs which results in countless hours of wasted time and ineffective, expensive outcomes.

Okay, so you’ve bought into the idea that the cool kids no longer use archaic spreadsheets. Excellent! What’s next?

All data is not equal. Structured and clearly defined data in a database is easily searchable but unstructured non-standardized data is very difficult to query. Having structured data is also critical for analytics and fast, easy reporting. Unstructured data includes text file formats like PDF files, Word documents and spreadsheets. Mature analytical tools are designed for utilizing structured data, but tools for mining unstructured data are still developing.

In order to take advantage of evolving technology like Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, data must be structured. The ability to slice and dice data in different ways is critical because of the varying business requirements. Many different datasets with diverse characteristics exist across organisations. High quality data is required to more quickly develop advanced analytics and AI systems. This capability will enable staff to make better decisions, faster.

Times are changing. Will you be the tortoise or the hare?

It’s time for a better solution.

RES software solutions can help.