How can we help?

Close
icon

Give us a call

Our team of experts are on hand and ready to help.

0161 883 2655
icon

Live chat

Ready to chat data? That's what we're here for

icon

Submit an enquiry

Fill out your details and one of the team will be in touch

Get in touch

Jordan’s 7 Reasons you Should Adopt Power BI

Okay, we’ve chatted about Power BI time and time again – you’re probably well familiar with its incredible features by now.

But just in case you need to hear it from the horse’s mouth, our Business Development Director, Jordan Brookes, is here to share his seven key reasons why you should adopt the Power BI platform.

Always keen to leverage the newest technology to stay ahead of the curve, Jordan is a fan of Power BI for enabling us to better serve our clients. Here’s how using it could help you do the same…

1. Access to invaluable insights

With all your data in one place, Power BI has the power to unlock invaluable insights about your business – from monitoring product sales to finding gaps in organisational processes.

By compiling all your data from various platforms and channels and turning it into easy-to-read, intuitive visualisations, all employees on every level will be able to make data-led, impactful decisions. Because Power BI is so easy to use, it doesn’t require a data analyst or an IT professional to access and manage it, meaning everyone within the business can feel empowered and closer to the heart of the action.

2. Quick start process

Getting started with Power BI dashboards is quick and uncomplicated, meaning there’s no waiting around to see that precious ROI.

For example, all of your data sources can be connected to Power BI in less than a minute, meaning there’s no lengthy set-up process. With in-built integrations such as Excel, Salesforce, Google Analytics, Jira and much more, you can have all your data in one place from the get-go.

When it comes to getting individual users set up, Power BI makes it easy to set up user levels and access permissions, so long as you have a good idea of your data governance strategy ahead of time. And thanks to its incredibly intuitive dashboard and drag-and-drop interface, almost anyone can start using Power BI straight away, without the need for additional training beforehand. If they get stuck, all of Power BI’s educational resources are available for free.

3. Easy to access, wherever you are

Power BI’s dashboards can be accessed from any laptop, tablet or phone, meaning you can keep your eye on emerging trends wherever you are. This also helps to keep employees in the loop, with the option to share with team-mates or clients on the move.

If you’re concerned about the security risks of accessing sensitive data over a mobile connection, know that the Power BI mobile app comes with full Enterprise Mobility and Security compatibility, meaning you can rest easy knowing your company information stays safe. You also have the option of using Power BI’s flexible permission controls, so only those who need to know certain information can access it from their mobile devices.

4. Real data-led insights, in real-time

Part of the beauty of Power BI is that data sources can be pushed into dashboards in real-time, meaning users can make meaningful decisions based on the most accurate data.

This is incredibly important for conserving time and resources, as out-of-date, inaccurate, or missing data can mean employees need to go searching for the right data before they can move forward. It also enables employees to act quickly within periods of pressure or high demand, limiting the possibility of making decisions that could do more harm than good.

5. Stay connected

Gone are the days when data needs to be manually downloaded, before reuploading it to another platform in order to be cleaned, processed or visualised. Power BI does this all in one go by staying permanently connected to your data sources, meaning you’ll never have to download a dataset again.

Simply jump in, see your data in real-time and start discovering its potential.

6. No upfront costs – so nothing to lose

Power BI comes with no upfront costs, so you can get started using Power BI desktop directly without any obligation or license fees. This means you can take your time finding your feet and creating your first report, seeing how Power BI could benefit your business before making a commitment.

If and when you’re ready to level up, know that Power BI Pro still costs two to three times less than its leading competitors, with the option to add additional data capacity without purchasing extra license fees (if over 1000 users).

7. Advanced AI works hard so you can do less

For more advanced users, Power BI can be used to streamline various processes with its artificial intelligence features. These include image recognition, text analytics and machine learning integration directly from within the platform.

All these new AI capabilities were pioneered in Azure and require no code, enabling all Power BI users to discover hidden, actionable insights in their data and drive better business outcomes.

Ready to level-up your data?

At Bespoke, we help businesses like yours unlock the full potential of their data through custom solutions, including Microsoft Power BI. Talk to the team today to learn more about Power BI and how we can help you.

Is One Person the Key Holder to your Business Intelligence?

Business Intelligence is a suite of software and analysis tools that transforms raw data into tremendous information and insights for any business. But for it to work effectively, it requires a culture of data-empowerment where data ownership is centralised and everybody is able to make use of the insights BI has to offer.

Traditionally, many organisations have placed data ownership into the hands of a single person or team, which can be a huge risk for data security and may even have wide-spread consequences for the business as a whole. For example, if the single BI keyholder happens to leave the business, certain data may not be able to be amended or added to, or worse, may not be able to be accessed at all. At worst this could lead to a huge security breach, but even if not, it majorly slows down processes and employee productivity.

Let’s take a deeper look at why creating a data-empowered workforce is so essential in getting the most from your business intelligence.

Business intelligence is for everybody

First of all, it’s important to remember that BI can and may be utilised by several teams and individuals throughout the business.

This means making sure that BI is accessible not just for different departments, but also customised for the different levels of users across the organisation.

How different departments might use BI

The 4 users of business intelligence

The below are four typical examples of business intelligence users. Bear in mind  that this list is in no way exhaustive, as users of BI can come in all types and forms.

1. Data Analyst

The data analyst is typically the one who drills deep down into the data. A robust BI platform enables them to do just this, so they can gather new insights and expand on business techniques.

2. IT user
The IT user plays a prominent role in maintaining and strengthening the BI platform’s infrastructure. In some organisations, they might also be the main BI keyholder, responsible for assisting other teams with data requests.

3. Owner/CEO
The owner or CEO will use BI to gain a relevant picture of how things are performing across the company, and take necessary steps to increase efficiency and boost revenue.

4. Business User
General business intelligence users will be distributed in various teams across the business. They can fall into one of two categories: the informal business user (who uses dashboards to analyse predetermined sets of data) and the power user (those capable of toiling complex data sets).

Is one person holding the key to your data?

Many major BI systems such as Microsoft’s Power BI are cloud-based, making them not just incredibly versatile and intuitive, but highly secure too.

Non-custom built data management platforms, such as Excel, lack the security of a cloud-based system as they typically place the ownership or governance in the hands of one person or team. This not only makes it tough for other employees to get the data insights they need, but also places the security of your data at risk.

If the username and password of the person responsible for creating the Excel sheets (or those of a person with editing privileges) were stolen, that means the person who now has access to the sheets can do anything with the data – from deleting it to stealing confidential client details.

The importance of a data-literate workforce

According to new research by Harvard Business Review Analytic Services, nearly 90% of organisations say success depends on data-driven decisions made by frontline employees. However, only 7% of organisations are fully equipping their teams with the analytic tools and resources needed to drive decision-making and autonomy.

This lack of control over information impedes the ability of 70% of businesses to meet strategic objectives (Finextra, 2019). For 84% of these, information is typically processed by IT, who aren’t always able to juggle this responsibility with their numerous other priorities. This means that other teams may struggle to get hold of data they need to carry out certain tasks, and also won’t have full visibility of the organisation’s data management needs.

Part of implementing a transformative data strategy involves making data accessible to all those who need it. It’s also about empowering all employees across all departments to have a mentality whereby data underpins all business decisions.  According to McKinsey Global Institute, companies who adopt a data-driven culture are 23 times more likely to acquire customers,  six times more likely to retain and 19 times as likely to be profitable as a result.

Business intelligence best practices

There are, therefore, a few essential best practices in using business intelligence that can elevate its impact on your business.

1. Improve data literacy with training and tools

It’s already been established that organisations with higher data literacy rates have greater enterprise value. It’s important to give all employees access to BI tools that are easy to learn and use, build confidence, increase adoption and empower every user – no matter their role or level.

2. Centralise governance, security and management

More access and wider ownership doesn’t have to come at the expense of data security. Keep data and analytics secure through a system that lets administrators set rules based on users, actions and resources. This means that everybody has access to the data they need – and nothing that they don’t.

Time to empower your workforce

Are you ready to start bringing the power of data to your employees’ fingertips? At Bespoke, we enable you to create a data-empowered workforce with our range of business intelligence solutions.

Get in touch today to arrange a free consultation.

Could Data Be Holding Your Organisation Back?

With the importance of data becoming increasingly known for sustainable market success, many businesses are making data governance a key focus in 2021.

However, despite this, some organisations are still struggling to leverage the full potential of their data assets. According to research by Finextra in 2019, 95% of companies report negative impacts from poor data quality, which affects customer experience, business efficiency, and organisational reputation.

As well as this, incorrect ownership (69%), lack of trust in data (49%) and information overload (65%) are other key factors preventing businesses from incorporating a robust and reliable data strategy.

With these numbers in mind, it’s no wonder that even with the best intentions, data transparency and data intelligence is holding a number of businesses back from achieving their goals.

5 ways data could be holding your company back

For many companies, collecting the data isn’t the problem. Most businesses likely already have more than enough data at their fingertips, but instead of opening the door to valuable insights and opportunities, it’s actually slowing down processes and hindering their success.

Let’s take a look at five common ways your data could be holding you back.

1. Your data is fragmented across various platforms

Unless your company has implemented reliable custom business intelligence software, it’s likely that your data will be stored in several places. Unfortunately, this is a huge hurdle that could be hurting your data practices.

When data is fragmented across Excel spreadsheets, your CRM, an ERP system, your accountancy software, and various other platforms, then employees don’t have the visibility they need to make informed decisions and drive innovation. No matter how accurate or smart your data is, they lack the whole picture.

This can lead to increased time spent searching for data that’s missing, or even trying to make decisions based on little or poor data, which may not always be in your business’ best interests.

Meanwhile, business intelligence software enables you to connect and integrate fragmented business data into one easy-to-reach place and transform it into beautiful, simple dashboards.

2. Creating reports is taking up a large amount of time

Once you have the data, you need a way to understand it. This is typically done by creating visual reports such as graphs, tree maps and pie charts, which should be easy to read and effortless to produce.

Unfortunately, creating these reports is often an arduous task and takes up valuable time and resources, such as hard-to-schedule graphic designers or costly third party tools. All this can make this part of the data sharing process less than enjoyable, and it could be precious time better spent elsewhere.

A powerful business intelligence software will help you to create beautiful visualisations in minutes, enabling you not just to understand your data, but also to display it proudly to clients, stakeholders and team-mates.

3. You’re collecting data that never gets used

Having so much data that you don’t know what to do with it is an all-too-common scenario for most businesses, leaving them in a state of ‘analysis paralysis’. This stands in the way of smart, informed business decisions and could be wasting a huge amount of resources on collecting, storing, cleaning and processing data that may not actually be useful for your business objectives.

Only by collecting the data you really need, as well as knowing how to analyse it with purpose and clarity, can businesses truly benefit from the power data brings.

4. Your data is of poor quality

According to Finextra’s research, one in three (33%) organisations find trust a major challenge when extracting value from data. On average, companies believe 29% of their customer and prospect data is inaccurate in some way – a huge number, considering this is how many crucial business decisions are made. A further one in three report data being difficult to leverage because it is incomplete (38%) or not accessible through a single customer view (36%).

The reasons behind data inaccuracies can be various, but human error is the most common. 50% of organisations believe it’s down to data being inputted incorrectly, as well as a lack of automated checks in place when data is inputted for the first time (by customers, not just employees).

Other reasons include information being spread out across multiple sources as mentioned earlier (39%), and not having a clear data governance strategy in place (30%). This lack of quality means organisations do not have full confidence to make decisions based on their data, meaning they could be missing out on important business opportunities.

5. Data ownership is too limited

Part of implementing a transformative data strategy involves making data accessible to all those who need it. This is something most companies lack, however, as outdated practices and systems limit data ownership to a small select few.

This lack of control over information impedes the ability of 70% of businesses to meet strategic objectives (Finextra, 2019). For 84% of these, information is typically processed by IT, who aren’t always able to juggle this responsibility with their numerous other priorities. This means that other teams may struggle to get hold of data they need  to carry out certain tasks, and also won’t have full visibility of the organisation’s data management needs.

Expanding data ownership not only helps employees do their job more effortlessly, but it also helps to build a data-driven culture. This can be done easily by implementing a well-structured data governance strategy and adopting a delegated approach, whereby the right data is easily accessible to those who need it, and those who use information are responsible for its upkeep.

Move forward with your data

Do you feel your business could benefit from having more control over your data? Bespoke helps to make data simple through a range of business intelligence and data analytics solutions.

Get in touch to arrange a free consultation and find out more.

How Power BI can empower Healthcare companies

Microsoft’s Power BI uncovers data-driven insights in the healthcare industry that can improve clinical decision-making while transforming operations and outcomes.

The Covid-19 pandemic has prompted the healthcare industry to undergo a dramatic change in the way it works, from the reinvention of facilities to providing transparency in patient care.

If nothing else, it’s been a crisis that has forced the industry to think on its feet at a time when it is generating probably more data and insightful information than ever before.

As a result, it’s never been more important to transform this real time data into insightful reports and visualisations – and that’s where Power BI comes in.

What is Power BI?

A cloud-based analytics service, Power BI provides a fully integrated view of vital data by enabling users to monitor the performance of their business using live dashboards.

It can also generate visual and fully interactive reports with Power BI Desktop, while Power BI Mobile applications allow access to data while on the move.

Users are also presented with interactive data visualisations and business intelligence, giving them a capability for data analytics within a simple-to-use intuitive environment.

Power BI in the Healthcare sector

Power BI can help healthcare providers make the most of their vital data while offering an economical method for communicating information to those throughout the sector.

By integrating Power BI, providers are able to develop the insights required to limit costs and improve patient care while observing strict compliance rules and regulations.

It can also provide organisations with greater visibility into their data, providing them with greater insights for their key performance indicators by utilising technology.

What’s more the Power BI dashboard allows users to monitor hospital and healthcare quality indicators such as:

Benefits of Power BI for the Healthcare sector

Healthcare data can be complicated as organisations and authorities look to track everything from patient satisfaction scores to waiting times to staffing schedules; but Power BI makes it possible to generate detailed, yet easy-to-understand, overviews in order to find pivotal trends.

It can provide timely critical care responses, especially in emergency situations, by empowering healthcare professionals across the board to easily access data, while collaborating, and sharing insights.

By embedding Power BI reports and dashboards within the hospital apps and portals they already use, it can give care teams the data they need for their vital day-to-day decision making – enabling faster reactions and better results.

If that wasn’t enough, it can also safeguard sensitive data using access controls and governance policies which securely provide care teams access to the data they need.

Other Benefits:

How Power BI is revolutionising the healthcare industry

Power BI can help providers to constructively use their data while putting the findings into context for everyone from nurses and physicians to executives and administrators – something which had not been possible before.

One of the most economical methods for communicating information to people across the healthcare organisation, it also ensures that high-level data is represented in detail, not to mention a safe and controlled manner.

What’s more, being cloud based, it allows users to keep dashboard reports updated which can then be accessed by numerous employees across a range of devices for greater transparency – even when on the move.

It’s fully compatible with other Microsoft products

Implementing Power BI could not be easier, allowing providers to reap its many benefits immediately.

The desktop version of Power BI comes at no initial cost with the option to purchase Power BI Pro plan to share capabilities with multiple users while Power BI Premium is available at a slightly greater cost.

What’s more, it’s compatible with other Microsoft products, meaning you can adapt to the software quickly and easily if you’re accustomed to using Office 365 applications.

Have you considered making the switch to Power BI?

If you’re a healthcare provider and interested in learning more about how Power BI can help you reduce costs and improve patient care, while adhering to strict compliance regulations, we’re here for you.

Bespoke can help your business get started with Power BI and set you on your way to data-driven success.

We’ve even created a free guide on introducing your company to the Power Platform, including sharing its powerful benefits with decision-makers and stakeholders which you can download here.

So if you think it’s time to embrace the changes brought about by Power BI, contact us today for a demonstration.

Digital transformation: why does it matter in business?

In a world of ‘big data’ and information, more and more businesses are striving towards digital transformation as a way to keep up with the ever-changing technological landscape.

So what exactly is digital transformation and why should you be making it a focus for 2021? Here, we’ve outlined everything you need to know about this increasing business trend.

What is digital transformation?

Digital transformation has taken on many meanings in today’s digital era of big data and data management. The truth is, it’s a term that can mean multiple things to different businesses, depending on a company’s main priorities and overarching end goal.

Broadly speaking, digital transformation is the practice of integrating digital technology into all areas of a business, significantly changing how it operates and provides value to customers. In doing this, digital transformation also requires businesses to rethink old models, become more agile in responding to new problems, get comfortable with failure and continually challenge the status quo.

According to Jay Ferro, CIO of Quikrete, digital transformation should begin with “a problem statement, clear opportunity, or an aspirational goal” – basically, your company’s ‘why’. This could revolve around improving customer experience or increasing productivity, or something more aspirational, like becoming the absolute best in your industry using new digital technologies you didn’t have years ago.

Why does it matter for business growth?

There are several reasons a business may decide to take on a project of digital transformation. But for many, the most basic and common reason is survival – they simply have to.

An organisation’s ability to adapt quickly to potential manufacturing disruptions, market pressures and changing customer demands is critical to its long-term success. This has become even more apparent in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic, when consumer habits shifted dramatically and businesses were faced with totally new and unprecedented challenges.

Recent studies show that increasingly the digital transformation process is being viewed as a long-term investment, with relevant initiatives set to take over a 50% share of worldwide technology investment by 2023. Technology is no longer just a choice – it’s a fundamental business strategy that must be part of wider operative-initiatives.

Five common ways that digital transformation can help your business are:

Big data & analytics: the key to digital transformation

As just mentioned, data and analytics can play a key role in an organisation’s digital transformation efforts. Stats show that fewer than 50% of documented corporate strategies mention data and analytics as essential components for delivering enterprise value, according to Gartner, but this is changing. By 2022, it is predicted that 90% of corporate strategies will mention big data and analytics as a critical enterprise asset.

The answer, therefore, is clear: data and analytics competency should be paramount within your business for digital transformation success. This means defining a strong data strategy and implementing the relevant data transformation methods in order to make the absolute most of the information available.

Leading organisations in various industries are wielding data and analytics as competitive weapons, using them to accelerate growth and inspire innovation. But many companies still struggle under the weight of their traditional business models and processes that may not allow for the potential that data and analytics can bring. Others may also not be able to make the cultural shift needed to work with big data, or commit to the information management and analytics skills needed to truly make the most of its power.

Here at Bespoke, we provide various solutions to help you transform your data strategy. From direct consultancy to our range of out-of-the-box automation and analysis tools, we can guide you every step of the way towards making the most of big data. Simply get in touch to arrange a free initial consultation with one of our experts.

What’s next after digital transformation?

It wouldn’t be entirely surprising for companies to ask: is there an end to digital transformation? How can we know when we have reached it? When will we be able to say we have truly achieved digital transformation?

A more relevant question might be, what comes after digital transformation? Is there a next phase, and what will we call it?

Gartner has named the period beyond digital transformation as the  ‘ContinuousNext’, which will reflect the capabilities all companies need to keep up with the continuous change driven by technology.

ContinuousNext is a formula for success in a world that is constantly changing…”through and beyond digital transformation”. Meanwhile, Accenture is naming this period as the “post-digital era”.

Overall however, industry experts agree that digital transformation is a continuous process, as technology will always continue to advance rapidly, coupled with ever-changing consumer behaviours. Rather than view digital transformation as an end goal, organisations will have to consider it a constant process that will enable them to adapt, evolve, and drive forward change within their field. Ideally, it is the state of flow that all businesses should be striving for. 

Get in touch to find out how Digital Transformation can revolutionise your business.

Why It May Be Time to Move to the Cloud From Excel

Most small businesses often start out using Excel for their accounting and data management needs. However, this strategy is only doable up to a point. 

Although the popular spreadsheet application can do a large number of tasks and is easily available worldwide. It isn’t a long-term solution. This is because while the program itself is sturdy, the spreadsheets created using it aren’t. This often leads to problems later on – which we’ll go into shortly.

Eventually, there comes a time when businesses may need to look at alternative software for their developing needs. This usually involves a move to cloud-based software.

What exactly is ‘move to the cloud’?

Before we get started, let’s first establish what we mean when we talk about ‘moving to the cloud’.

‘Cloud computing’ is a general term for anything that involves delivering hosted services over the internet. ‘The cloud’ refers to servers that are hosted in data management centres all over the world and accessed over the internet, as well as the software and databases that run on those servers. By using cloud computing, users and companies don’t have to manage physical servers themselves or run software applications on their own machines – freeing up a lot of space and resources.

A ‘move to the cloud’ (also known as cloud migration) is the process of moving digital assets such as data, workloads, IT resources, or applications to cloud infrastructure. This might mean moving tools and data from old, legacy infrastructure or an ‘on-premises’ data management centre to the cloud.

Why it may be time to leave Excel

Although Excel is an excellent spreadsheet application, it is just that: a spreadsheet application. Many businesses unknowingly try to use the platform for purposes other than what it was designed for or overwhelm it with data and processes it was not meant to handle. This can lead to a myriad of problems, from the small and inconvenient to the large and disastrous.

Here are just a few examples:

Security issues

Excel lacks the security of a cloud-based system. Imagine the username and password of the person responsible for creating the Excel sheets (or those of a person with editing privileges) were stolen. That means the person who now has access to the sheets can do anything with the data – from deleting to stealing confidential client details.

Capability issues

As the size of data in a spreadsheet grows, the application’s performance plummets. When simultaneous access is added to the mix, things can come to a grinding halt – if the users can open the sheet at all. Many users run into these performance issues when they work with large amounts of data or combine lots of worksheets.

Excel also doesn’t integrate easily with other business applications, which can cause problems with data duplication or overlap.

Accuracy issues

So long as manual data entry, copy-paste techniques and formula errors are a reality, there is always a risk to the accuracy of data, and spreadsheets can be riddled with mistakes.

As people work with Excel sheets, they may make changes to the main file such as hiding columns or tabs, of which others may not be aware if changes are not communicated, leading to incorrect or incomplete reports. Another problem is that some people may prefer to work on a local version of the file in case there is an error, meaning multiple copies of the same workbook can be passed around the office, inevitably leading to a version mix-up.

Because Excel files don’t have an audit trail, it’s almost impossible to track who did what after a file has been edited a few times by multiple people. This can have a real impact on accountability and data recovery. After all, if you don’t know what was updated, by whom, and on what date how will you be able to restore the original data?

Practical issues

Setting up an Excel spreadsheet that meets all of your financial or data collection needs requires a lot of forethought and planning. It often takes time to set up formulas and reporting and requires manual tracking. You may find your business constantly adding or changing the information on the spreadsheet, which can be a poor use of employee time.

Creating forms to manage data input can also be time-consuming and difficult. Even when done correctly, the forms won’t have enough methods to control and validate inputs from the users, meaning there is always the chance of erroneous data capturing.

data management, move to the cloud

Why a cloud-based system is better for business

Cloud-based software is a definite step up from Excel in a number of ways. As well as being scalable, cost-effective and tailored to your business needs, it also guarantees maximum up-time and does highly secure backups on the regular, meaning you never have to think or worry about your data’s integrity.

Unlimited users are allowed, each with their own access levels so that employees only see what they need to see, and sensitive data isn’t out in the wild. Cloud storage also alleviates the pressure (and costs) of providing data storage on the premises.

Let’s look into the benefits of cloud-based software in a little more detail.

Scalability

Cloud computing can scale up to support larger workloads and greater numbers of users far more easily than on-premises infrastructure. The latter option requires businesses to purchase and set up additional physical servers, networking equipment, or software licenses – all of which can be very costly (see below).

Cost

Companies often find that moving to the cloud vastly reduces the amount they spend on IT operations since their cloud providers handle maintenance and upgrades. Rather than think about keeping things running, businesses can focus more on their actual business goals and getting ahead in their chosen market.

Performance

If an application or website is hosted in cloud data management centres instead of in various on-premise servers, then data will not have to travel as far to reach the users. This enables many businesses to significantly improve service performance and the overall user experience for their customers.

Flexibility

Both employees and customers can access the cloud services they need from anywhere. This opens up various business opportunities such as expanding into new territories and allowing their employees to work remotely.

Cloud-based users will also be able to take advantage of other apps that sync with their existing data. This means processes like inventory management, invoicing and client data collection will become a whole lot easier, saving time and reducing costs.

Ease of use

Most cloud-based systems come with an easy-to-use dashboard which you don’t have to set up yourself, giving your employees confidence from the get-go. When a business has a clear financial view from the very start, it can make better strategic decisions.

Accessibility

All real-time financial (and other) data is kept in one central place – online, in the cloud. There’s no need to wait until the month-end to see how things are going – with just a few clicks, real-time reports and budgets are easy to view and share. 

Historical data is also always available at your fingertips, and a proper audit trail ensures your data cannot be compromised.

Accuracy

Cloud-based software allows you to create the information any of your customers or stakeholders might need at a moment’s notice, and with more automation and less manual data entry, mistakes and errors are exceptionally rare.

It’s worth bearing in mind that Excel is highly adaptable and basically free. If your business is just starting out and your data is relatively straightforward, an Excel workbook with one administrator could be the best choice. However, even small businesses eventually tend to outgrow their spreadsheets and have to make the move to a cloud-based system.

A move to the cloud can be stressful, but it is often the best choice for organisations that require data confidentiality, access by multiple users, and ease in reporting.

Get in touch if you think there is something Bespoke could help your business with.