I remember that in 1994, I decided to pursue a degree in systems engineering. My parents gave me a computer, and by 1995, due to the programs I needed to use, I had to buy a new hard drive. The computer had 20 megabytes of storage space, and I had to double it to 40 megabytes. I remember this upgrade cost approximately Q3,000. Today, we can buy an external drive with 1 TB (1 million megabytes) of storage for Q400, which means that for almost 12% of the original cost, we can acquire 25,000 times more space. This exponential growth in storage has led to companies generating millions of megabytes of information. It’s remarkable how digital files are now being produced within companies, and every computer generating data presents an opportunity to store acquired knowledge. The key questions here are: how can companies leverage all the information they generate for their own benefit? How can I turn data into information, then this information into knowledge, and finally, how can this knowledge be transformed into actions that improve the company?
Companies could save significant amounts of money or create new business opportunities with the knowledge generated daily. But what is the strategy to achieve this? This strategy involves several steps. The first is to formulate a set of key questions and indicators to measure business outcomes, such as sales indicators or cost-reduction metrics. Next, it is crucial to identify the source of the information, which may come from spreadsheets, word processor documents, formal databases, among others. Afterward, a strategy must be defined that facilitates data search across different sources or computers. Today, technology exists that makes searching through files and centralizing data much easier. Under a Business Intelligence strategy, measuring key business indicators becomes more straightforward, allowing management to view metrics akin to a vehicle’s dashboard, such as speed, fuel level, and temperature. This enables companies to measure, control, and improve, entering a cycle of continuous improvement.
Additionally, there is another critical aspect: files generated by employees also become a source of knowledge. Extracting the value from this information through a Knowledge Management strategy and software (KMS, Knowledge Management System) allows companies to harness all this accumulated knowledge and make it available to others. So, every time we ask ourselves how to improve our business, we should look within our company, implement a strategy where information truly becomes knowledge, and establish indicators to drive actions. This is analogous to having a virtual library dedicated to optimizing our business.
