Unlocking Efficiency and Insights: The Power of Data Management Automation, AI, and Integration

Today’s business world is drowning in data. Consumer data, product data, marketing data, analytics data, and more are growing at a rate of 328.77 million terabytes of data per day.

To stay afloat, many companies are turning to data management automation. By unleashing automated processes for collecting, securing, and utilizing data, businesses are able to unlock efficiencies and insights that drive new levels of business growth and productivity.

“Many businesses are using automation to improve their data management processes, but few are truly optimizing it,” says Sean Shahkarami, Founder and CEO of Opilio. “They are experiencing surface-level benefits — cutting costs, decreasing errors in data entry, keeping employees more engaged by decreasing the number of mundane tasks they must complete — but there are far more advantages to be gained from automation.”

Opilio is at the forefront of automating data management, delivering innovative solutions that streamline workflows, eliminate manual tasks, and allow organizations to allocate resources more strategically. Opilio's use of machine learning and AI empowers businesses to unlock their data's full potential, facilitating accurate predictions and data-driven decision-making across all areas of their operations.

Achieving next-level automation

Schema refers to the way data is structured within a database and is an important element of formatting that provides data integrity and consistency. As businesses increase the number of data sources they are drawing from, they increase the likelihood of mismatched schema.

“When data is pulled from different sources or entered by different people via a manual process, a business can end up with mismatched schema, which can lead to a number of problems,” Shahkarami explains. “It makes integration very difficult, resulting in data silos and disconnected systems, and reduces analytical value, meaning businesses aren’t able to unlock business insights. Data management automation standardizes data schema to avoid mismatched sets.”

Data management automation also increases the speed of business. When new data must be manually entered, organizations can experience days or weeks of delay while waiting for it to be processed. Data management automation allows for real-time updates, which means businesses will be better equipped to take advantage of opportunities as they arise.

While businesses are collecting droves of data, most report they are putting only a small fraction of it to use. Statistics show the average company uses between 27 percent and 40 percent of its data for analytical purposes, but the remainder goes unmined, presenting cost and labor inefficiencies in terms of collection and storage.

Businesses that automate their data management free up resources for data analysis. “The cost and time-saving benefits automation brings allow businesses to achieve greater levels of depth in their analytics,” says Shahkarami. “Businesses can collect more detailed data or simply mine more of the data they are already collecting, which leads to greater depth of insight and drives better decision making.”

Bringing AI into the equation

Leveraging AI in the data management process increases speed, accuracy, and insights by allowing for automated data classification, which ensures data integrity. AI can also manage data validation, ensuring inaccurate, duplicate, and corrupt data are kept out of systems.

“A wide variety of businesses have discovered the value AI can bring to their data management efforts,” Shahkarami shares. “Healthcare businesses are using it in operations to automate scribes and charts, predict cash flows in their revenue cycles, and automate the diagnosis of medical imaging procedures. In finance and other professional services, AI is empowering automated reporting and streamlining the qualification process. Manufacturing and supply chain businesses are able to predict disruptions and demands by integrating AI into their data management processes.”

Deploying customized APIs

In the ideal world, all of a business’s data would have the same format, reside in the same system, and flow easily into analytical processes. In the real world, however, that is rarely the case.

To bring data together, businesses have come to rely on custom APIs to facilitate the integration of data from various systems. Modern API technology allows businesses to seamlessly connect all of their enterprise resource planning components in a way that fully optimizes data management.

“Custom APIs make seamless ERP integration possible, allowing businesses to bring together multiple data systems from different vendors in a way that maximizes data value,” Shahkarami explains. “They make upgrading and transitioning systems easier and more cost-effective while also allowing businesses to implement more options. Developing and deploying custom APIs has never been easier — it’s a no-code process anyone who is a little tech savvy can learn to do with minimum effort.”

Taking strides to upgrade data management

Businesses seeking to automate data management have a variety of tools available to them, but Shahkarami warns they shouldn’t rush into the process. “The first step is to educate yourself on the options available,” he advises. “Explore how it can help you to achieve your goals and the risks it may bring, then start small. Automation can bring new efficiencies to all areas of your business, but it’s best to start with one use case and build out from there.”

Shahkarami also advises businesses that work with vendors to ensure the systems they develop become the property of the business and not the vendor. Otherwise, businesses may gain efficiency but lose control of the intellectual property the systems are delivering.

Data continues to be the new oil. Automated data management gives businesses a better way to refine that oil. By leveraging automation to achieve standardization, increased processing speed, and enhanced compatibility, businesses can obtain the insights needed to propel them to the top of their industry.