Microsoft’s approach of managing multi-system data querying helps public sector organisations bring data together to drive actionable insight.
In the first of a two-part series, Node4’s Business Applications Transformation Specialist, Jay Fitzhenry discusses the power of easy-to-use data platform for the public sector.
COST-EFFECTIVE TECHNOLOGIES THAT SERVE THE PUBLIC SECTOR
Data Warehouse, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) are all technologies which public sector organisations want to get involved with, but how do we achieve that without breaking the bank?
As more organisations implement digital transformation initiatives, the need for new systems which manage data at scale becomes a paramount goal. Technology leaders are seeing the benefits of tooling that supports automated processing whilst driving value. Driving operational efficiency, reducing cost and customer engagement are the key themes where technology can support innovation, and by using Customer Insights Data, this idea becomes a reality. Especially in public sector, we’re seeing a need for organisations to create a single view of their customers across multiple systems.
BUDGETS ARE SHRINKING
However, classic approaches to tackling this challenge of building a single view of the customer are expensive. The time and resource needed are costly with custom integrations, managing system decommission, reducing skills gap and support overheads. With an increased focus on maximising current investments, the appetite to completely overhaul environments is usually at the bottom of the list.
So, with that in mind, why not choose a solution which compliments existing products, whilst supplying value and breaking down the historic barrier usually attributed to business change? This is where Microsoft Customer Insights – Data takes the stage, bringing data together from multiple systems through low-code tooling.
DISPARATE SYSTEMS
It’s great to see Customer Insights Data tackling wider business challenges, but how does it work when we get into the detail? Most organisations have a variety of systems found on-premises and in the cloud, adding to this many applications are either hosted by 3rd party organisations or custom developed by in-house resource. The concept of shadow IT also comes to mind, where teams build their own solutions outside the knowledge of IT. This means that although there could be work done to overcome these issues, knowledge and insight need to be generated now. Most public sector organisations are working with critical information which may affect real-world people.
Customer Insights Data handles multi-system integration with ease. With a vast array of connectors, the tool can quickly ingest data, unify it and present the outcome for further analysis. Gone are the days of using complete Extract, Transform and Load (ETL) operations in complex Data Warehouses. There’s still a place for them in the modern day, of course, but for quick processing of data which can be used operationally instantly, nothing quite compares to Customer Insights Data.
WEBINAR: UNIFYING CUSTOMER DATA
Want to learn more about how Microsoft Customer Insights – Data works and can benefit local councils? You’re in luck – you can sign up to view a webinar detailing how the solution, along with a live demonstration.
Watch our on-demand webinar on how Microsoft Customer Insights – Data can help local councils to unify their data, and the benefits it can bring. Click the link below and get free on-demand access now!
HOW CAN WE HELP
SINGLE VIEW OF THE CUSTOMER
The concept of Single View of the Customer (SVoC) isn’t new and represents best in class when working with Customer Service applications. Having a unified, comprehensive view of residents, service users, customers or those needing care is crucial to ensure the levels of service provided by public sector organisations is of the highest quality. Achieving these goals means organisations can effectively tailor their service, whilst predicting needs for future engagement.
Historically, building this single view has been fraught with obstacles. Barriers with system integration and poor data quality have prevented this vision from being achieved. Customer Insights Data overcomes this challenge through unification. The unification process manages customer data through deduplication rules, matching rules and supplying a unified data view. This results in a single record being created as an output, further enhanced through data enrichment. Microsoft has supplied a catalogue of external sources to help further enrich customer data, examples include address information, demographics, brands, interests and other location-based data.
OVERCOMING HIGH COST OF CLASSIC APPROACHES
So, we have a system, that can hook onto anything, process your data quickly providing a single view of the customer, whilst also enriching data sources with external partners – almost seems too good to be true! If you were to go back 5 years and build this system, you’d be right – however, Microsoft has invested substantially in ensuring organisations can develop meaningful and actionable approaches to customer service.
By their very nature, legacy solutions are prohibitively expensive, time consuming and not adaptable. With Customer Insights Data you are able to create solutions on-demand which are cost effective and can be tailored to suit both your short and long-term plans. This is all made possible through the standard Microsoft licensing model which focusses on scalability, both in terms of volume and processing.
HOW CAN NODE4 HELP?
As a trusted Microsoft partner and with a vast experience of working with public sector organisations, we’re well placed to help support your data transformation journey.
To find out more about how Microsoft Customer Insights – Data could be the first step to getting enhanced insights from your data, get in touch with our friendly experts today.