A CPG business in which communication is out of sync is a business heading towards trouble. Two important corporate components that need to be on the same page – Information Technology (IT) and Business Intelligence (BI) – are both essential to a company’s success. While their goals are similar, they work in two very different worlds. It’s as if these two essential business operations speak entirely separate languages and are in need of a translator.
Left-Brain
Professional IT workers create, collect, secure and exchange all forms of internal data and functionalities. Without IT, CPG production lines reach a halt, trucks idle at loading docks, invoices aren’t sent and payments don’t get deposited. You might even say they speak their own language, with outsiders struggling to comprehend the shorthand and acronyms of this highly technical world.
Conversely, IT professionals struggle to understand the world beyond their company. These left-brain thinkers work best in a problem-solution environment, using the tools in front of them to find immediate solutions. A strategy that works well in IT, but doesn’t translate to BI area such as Sales, Marketing and Business Development.
Right-Brain
BI professionals are often category managers, insights analysts, trade planners and sales and marketing professionals. Their task is to analyze data to understand what influences the industry they work in, using technology as a means to find actionable information to increase sales.
IT doesn’t have all the answers a business needs, so the right-brain BI professionals step in to complete the picture. Through speculation and analysis, solutions are uncovered to benefit the company as a whole.
Communication Breakdown
When left-brain and right-brain professionals attempt to meet in the middle, communications can break down. To further the miscommunication between the two, IT thrives in certainty whereas BI specializes in uncertainty. These two groups often lack an understanding of the complexities of the other’s job. Analysts always need larger and more detailed sets of data, as well as more advanced tools to analyze and present their findings. IT can sometimes fail to provide these much needed, more advanced performance tools.
In a complex world of big data and communication, IT and BI professionals need a bridge to link communication between the two. The Ironbridge Software team has decades of experience working in both these arenas, building high-performance products and tools that lead to deeper solutions that utilize and harmonize the best of IT and BI. Click here to learn more about what Ironbridge Software has to offer.