Applying Decision-Centric Concepts

Decisions are easy; we make thousands each day. How many of them are habits, as opposed to active choices? That same question is just as well applied to business models. Our work solutions keep information in siloed formats in email, spreadsheets, Asana, Jira, MS Project, calendars, tableau, PowerBI, Qlik, and PowerPoint slides. Multiply that times every member of an organization and you see the inherent problem with doing “business as usual.”

Building and recording the data that supports business decisions has been wrought with these outdated technologies as well as cubbies-hole solutions built by integrator teams. Technology has progressed from mainframe to ERP to CRM. We are capturing data in large volumes but still rely on static business formats to make decisions. Even with the development of Business Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence, current business tools only give static snapshots of time - when we need a fluid moving image with both the ability to review history and project future excursions. The truly agile solution is one that allows us to review and access live data with “What if/why/how/when” capabilities.  

The operations mashup that contemplates/speculates on alternatives and correlations to directions and decisions is often termed the “Engine Room.” Historically, leadership works with static reports that have been created through hundreds of hours of staff time; making financial, directional, and strategic decisions based on information that is no longer current. In order to make decisions on an enterprise scale, leaders need traceable, accountable, and reliable decision processes to measure performance and charge towards the future.

A decision-centric platform is designed to support an integrated data story with guides that map potential challenges. Allowing leadership to make hypotheses and gain insight immediately, with live and malleable data is essential to making accurate, informed decisions. The ability to refer to a ledger of details pertaining to past decisions, decision-makers, and patterns is where technology meets outcome-based results, and where systems become decision-centric.  

The goal of the decision-centric platform is to drive positive outcomes based upon real data in real-time and to be able to defend those decisions.  Enterprises are challenged daily with unknown factors but by bringing measured pattern data and flexible scenarios to the equation, decisions can be made with increased speed, consistency, and confidence.