Business Intelligence and how can it help us

Every year organizations gather and store increasing amounts of data. Mid-size organizations tell us that, on average, they have a minimum of seven operational data sources.

These sources contain data the business users often want to tap into, in order to make the best decisions to steer the business in the right direction. But for IT to respond to the escalating requests and really help the business use that data can be a huge drain on time and resources. And the requests are piling up.

Requests such as:

Can you give me a report that combines sales and forecast data?

Can you provide a spreadsheet that shows a top 100 customers by product type—what and when they bought, and where they are located?

Can you provide a dashboard that shows the executives of the key performance indicators such as sales, costs, and profits, so they can have up-to-the minute access to this information? Sounds familiar?

You want to help, but are limited in time and resources. And you often don’t want to give them access to the data directly for control and security purposes. That’s where Business Intelligence (BI) comes in. http://Infosdemocracy.com

Knowledge Management

Knowledge management involves data mining and some method of operation to push information to users. Some vendors are offering products to help an enterprise inventory and access knowledge resources. IBM's Lotus Discovery Server and K-Station, for example, are products advertised as providing the ability to organize and locate relevant content and expertise required to address specific business tasks and projects. They are said to be able to analyze the relationships between content, people, topics, and activity, and produce a knowledge map report.

In early 1998, it was believed that few enterprises actually had a comprehensive knowledge management practice (by any name) in operation. Advancement in information technology and the way we access and share information has changed that; many enterprises now have some kind of knowledge management Framework in place.

Comprehensively, Knowledge Management is a newly emerging, interdisciplinary business model dealing with all aspects of knowledge within the context of the firm, including knowledge creation, codification, sharing, and how these activities promote learning and innovation.

In practice, knowledge management encompasses both technological tools and organizational routines in overlapping parts.

Rudy Ruggles, leading knowledge management thinker/practitioners, has identified the following items as integral components of knowledge management:

·       Generating new knowledge

·       Accessing valuable knowledge from outside sources

·       Using accessible knowledge in decision making

·       Embedding knowledge in processes, products, and/or services

·       Representing knowledge in documents, databases, and software

·       Facilitating knowledge growth through culture and incentives

·       Transferring existing knowledge into other parts of the organization

·       Measuring the value of knowledge assets and/or impact of knowledge management.

As a manager, it is essential to develop your business management skills to their full potential, which is also known as or called Business Intelligence. More details here: http://Infosdemocracy.com

Inventory Management

Inventory management is the active control program, which allows the management of sales, purchases and payments.

Inventory management also refers to the process of managing the stocks of finished products, semi-finished products and raw materials by a firm. Inventory management, if done properly, can bring down costs and increase the revenue of a firm.

How much one should invest in inventory management? The answer to this question depends on the volume and value of inventory as a percentage of the total assets of a firm. The importance of inventory management varies according to industries. For example, an automobile dealer has very high inventories, sometimes as high as 50 per cent of the total assets, whereas in the hotel industry it may be as low as 2 to 5 per cent.

The process of inventory management is a continuous one and here are various kinds of solutions available. It is advisable to employ specialized staff-for-inventory-management.
The inventory management process begins as soon as one has started production and ordered raw materials, semi-finished products or any other thing from a supplier. If you are a retailer, then this process begins as soon you have placed your first order with the wholesaler.

Once orders have been placed, there is generally a short period of time available to a firm to put an inventory management plan in place before the supplies are delivered. Inventory management helps a firm to decide in advance where these supplies should be stored. If a firm is getting supplies of small-sized goods, it may not be much of a problem to store them, but in the case of large goods, one has to be careful so that the warehousing space is-optimally-utilized.

From invoices to purchase orders, there is lot of paperwork and documentation involved in inventory management. Several software programs are available in market, which help in inventory management.

Inventory management software helps create invoices, purchase orders, receiving lists, payment receipts and can print bar coded labels. An inventory management software system configured to your warehouse, retail or product line will help to create revenue for your company. 

The Inventory Management will control operating costs and provide better understanding. There are source for inventory management information, inventory management software and tools.

A complete Inventory Management Control system contains the following components:

·       Inventory Management Definition

·       Inventory Management Terms

·       Inventory Management Purposes

·       Definition and Objectives of Inventory Management

·       Organizational Hierarchy of Inventory Management

·       Inventory Management Planning

·       Inventory Management Controls for Inventory

·       Determining Inventory Management Stock Levels.

The ultimate value of inventory management software is directly related to the integrity of the data entered into the system. If the physical goods in the warehouse do not correspond with the digital information, get ready to grit your teeth.

Effective inventory management is more than just blips on a screen ... its how those blips relate to what's actually sitting on the pallets.  Click here details: http://Infosdemocracy.com

Portfolio Management

Portfolio Management is the responsibility of the senior management team of an organization or business unit.
This team, which might be called the Product Committee, meets regularly to manage the product pipeline and make decisions about the product portfolio. Often, this is the same group that conducts the stage-gate reviews in the organization.
A logical starting point is to create a product strategy - markets, customers, products, strategy approach, competitive emphasis, etc. The second step is to understand the budget or resources available to balance the portfolio against. Third, each projectmust be assessed for profitability (rewards), investment requirements (resources), risks, and other appropriate factors.
The weighting of the goals in making decisions about products varies from company. But organizations must balance these goals: risk vs. profitability, new products vs. improvements, strategy fit vs. reward, market vs. product line, long-term vs. short-term. Several types of techniques have been used to support the portfolio management process:
· Heuristic models
· Scoring techniques
· Visual or mapping techniques
The earliest Portfolio Management techniques optimized projects' profitability or financial returns using heuristic or mathematical models. However, this approach paid little attention to balance or aligning the portfolio to the organization's strategy.
Scoring techniques weight and score criteria to take into account investment requirements, profitability, risk and strategic alignment. The shortcoming with this approach can be an over emphasis on financial measures and an inability to optimize the mix of projects.
Mapping techniques use graphical presentation to visualize a portfolio's balance. These are typically presented in the form of a two-dimensional graph that shows the trade-off's or balance between two factors such as risks vs. profitability, marketplace fit vs. product line coverage, financial return vs. probability of
success, etc
Portfolio Management is used to select a portfolio of new product development projects to achieve the following goals:
· Maximize the profitability or value of the portfolio
· Provide balance
· Support the strategy of the enterprise
The art and science of making decisions about investment mix and policy, matching investments to objectives, asset allocation for individuals and institutions, and balancing risk vs. performance.
Portfolio management is all about strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the choice of debt vs. equity, domestic vs. international, growth vs. safety, and numerous other tradeoffs encountered in the attempt to maximize return at a given appetite for risk.
Benefits of the portfolio management program:
· Customized investment management
· Diversification
· Unified fee structure
· Personalized client service
· Resources of an industry leader addressing your
individual needs
· Unified fee structure.

http://InfosDemocracy.com 

Business Intelligence and how can it help us

Every year organizations gather and store increasing amounts of data. Mid-size organizations tell us that, on average, they have a minimum of seven operational data sources.
These sources contain data the business users often want to tap into, in order to make the best decisions to steer the business in the right direction. But for IT to respond to the escalating requests and really help the business use that data can be a huge drain on time and resources. And the requests are piling up.
Requests such as:
Can you give me a report that combines sales and forecast data? Can you provide a spreadsheet that shows a top 100 customers by product type—what and when they bought, and where they are located?
Can you provide a dashboard that shows the executives of the key performance indicators such as sales, costs, and profits, so they can have up-to-the minute access to this information? Sounds familiar?
You want to help, but are limited in time and resources. And you often don’t want to give them access to the data directly for control and security purposes. That’s where Business Intelligence (BI) comes in. http://InfosDemocracy.com

Training Other Qualifications, and Advancement

An educational requirement for these managers are broadly varies, depending on the size and complexity of the organization.
In some organizations, experience may be the only requirement needed to enter a position as office manager.
In administrative services management, the office manager may be promoted to a certain position based on past performance of the manager without being passing through a managerial course.
In large organizations, however, some administrative services managers are chartered consultant to the organization (Company)and each position have formal education and experience requirements. Some of them have advanced degrees.
Specific requirements vary by job responsibility. For first-line administrative service managers of secretarial,
mailroom, and related support activities, which many employers prefer in associate degree in business or management, with a high school diploma may suffice when combined with appropriate experience. For managers of audiovisual, graphics, and other technical activities, postsecondary technical school training is
preferred at a first time employment by a small organization, but they may summer, summer recommended for training to enhance the development organization. While Managers of highly complex services, such as contract administration, generally need at least a bachelor’s degree in business, human resources, or finance.
Regardless of major, the curriculum should include courses in office information technology, such as: accounting, business mathematics, computer applications, human resources and business law. Most facility managers have an undergraduate or graduate degree in engineering, architecture, construction management, business administration, or facility management. Many however, have a background in real estate management, construction, or interior design, in addition to managerial experience.

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 If you're interested in business but not sure if you’ll get the right skills from a degree, then you can stop worrying.