The Valuable Resource Businesses Are Wasting, Without Even Realising

Of the many assets held by businesses, arguably the most valuable resource is company data. However, too many companies aren’t aware of exactly what data they can access, and how to use it to their advantage.

There is an increasing awareness around the globe of the value of data, particularly on the back of generative artificial intelligence models that require vast amounts of data to ‘learn’.

Yet despite this, not enough companies are actively farming their own derived datasets to learn more about the inner workings of their business, and use that information to make objective, data-based business decisions.

By employing digital equipment-monitoring technology, businesses have the ability to access detailed information about the operational efficiency and power consumption of equipment and devices to create a more holistic picture on exactly how the business is functioning, and identify areas for potential improvement.

The key to the technology is the real time delivery of digital data, allowing businesses to adjust policies and procedures immediately, rather than learning about trends and patterns once dated analogue meters have been read, data processed, and reports compiled some weeks later.

While there’s no denying that the previous method of extracting data has been useful for companies, there is a wealth of untapped data many companies aren’t yet accessing.

By way of example, a data centre operating multiple air conditioning units throughout the building currently won’t know how each individual unit is functioning until it is physically looked at during regular maintenance.

Yet by employing digital equipment-monitoring technology, operators can be provided with real time data on how each individual unit is operating simultaneously, outlining the power consumption and efficiency at any moment, and quickly identify those that are functioning less than optimally.

That then provides an opportunity for maintenance to be become proactive, rather than reactive, saving both time and money.

Added to this, the data also allows the company to make decisions on which air conditioning units need replacing and when, based on accurate, objective information, rather than educated estimates.

Having the ability to make data-informed business decisions is a game changer for all companies, providing an opportunity for cost and time savings, and offering the ability for whole of business improvements to be made.

The explosion of AI in recent months has created a new hype around the value and ability of data, and rightly so.

However, where the focus is currently on the ability of various apps and models to reproduce data that already exists – the good-looking car, if you will – the real power is in the ability of companies to create their own data – the actual horsepower of the car.

It appears as if we’re on the cusp of a global transformation, and as more companies start to realise the value and ability of their own data, we’re likely to see progress and advancement on a significant scale.