One of the most significant challenges for nearly every business, from start-ups to SMEs, to Fortune 500 organisations, is the ability to function as a cohesive unit. Despite all the technological advancements that have transformed how businesses operate over the years, many still struggle to align their various systems and processes. The problem with this silo mentality is that it leads to decreased productivity, more organisational inefficiencies, and a waste of resources – all of which impact business outcomes and profitability.
Most organisations operate as a collection of essentially five interdependent components: value creation, marketing, sales, value delivery, and finance. Each of these functions flows into the next in mostly a linear fashion. For example, marketing leads to sales which lead to value delivery, and so forth. Each business requires all five components integrated together to function correctly, but when each of these components operates independently, it often creates an environment where activities can become duplicated, costs are wasted, customer experiences suffer, and every process becomes more complex. Often just one single point of failure can have far-reaching effects, which can impact the rest of the organisation.
The solution: An Integrated Business Management System
An integrated business management system (IBMS) is a type of system designed to connect all business functions together. It offers benefits for every aspect of the organisation, from sales and marketing, to finance and operations. IBMS solutions help businesses to create better experiences for both their workforce and customers by creating a holistic experience through the seamless integration and streamlining of business processes and shared data. This in turn helps to increase productivity and efficiencies between departments, and ultimately increases your organisational resilience.
Shared information equates to better decisions
An IBMS allows your entire team, regardless of their physical location within the organisation, to work more effectively as a unit. When integrated together and integrated with data from across the business, it provides visibility into everything company-related – from marketing mix models and marketing attribution to customer service levels and conversion rates. This enables all members of your team to be more informed when making decisions that impact the business, and to be more proactive in identifying problems before they become a major issue.
A seamless network for ease of communication and collaboration
Often different departments within an organisation may rely on different tools and resources for their work. A good example of this is when marketing and sales departments each use their own tools to track and measure success on campaigns and initiatives. This can lead to disparate data, and as a result, conflicting information when it comes to making important decisions. When an integrated business management system is utilised across multiple departments, users across the organisation gain access to a full suite of powerful collaboration and communication functionalities that allow for improved workflows and increased transparency.
Increased productivity and organisational efficiency
IBMS solutions can help reduce repetitive tasks by the shared integration of data. This allows for greater visibility across the entire business, and more importantly, reduces the amount of time employees spend searching for data. Employees are then able to better utilise their time on more productive activities, and business-critical functions. For leadership, important decisions can be made in a timelier manner when all the relevant data is integrated and easily accessible.
Scalable and sustainable growth
An integrated business management system helps businesses achieve sustainable growth and scalability for several reasons. Having one singular platform allows for greater cost efficiency and increased ease of management. Often, organisations will maintain a patchwork of technology platforms which can become cumbersome, inefficient, and costly. Another benefit of seamless integrations available via IBMS solutions is that it also allows companies to easily scale their business operations, by increasing productivity without adding headcount, or by adding new technology.
The ContinuSys IBMS solution
For any organisation that wants to remain competitive and scale in a sustainable manner, an integrated business management system is critical. Maintaining streamlined operational efficiency through the seamless integration of data across multiple touchpoints can increase revenue and reduce costs. It also contributes to organisational resilience, which in turn strengthens operational, supply-chain, and information resilience.
Unfortunately, many businesses still operate within a compartmentalised structure, which results in discordant information and conflicting data. In addition, complex technologies that are meant to increase business efficiency often do not integrate with other systems effectively, essentially operating in a silo, thus compounding the issue further.
In response to this antiquated structure, ContinuSys has developed its Integrated Business Management Software (IBMS), developed to provide peak operational and organisational efficiency. This functions as a collection of integrated web and mobile apps designed to provide a holistic business management solution that integrates an organisation's entire business ecosystem. All data is stored in a single database, accessible through a virtual server hosted securely in Amazon Web Services (AWS). The goal is to provide the seamless integration of shared data for optimum productivity and business efficiency.
In developing its IBMS solution, the ContinuSys family of apps all share the same database and work in unison as a single system to manage each interdependent part of your business. This allows for greater cohesion, with integrated workflows for end-to-end visibility across the entire business. The ContinuSys Integrated Business Management System has been designed to seamlessly support and synchronise the five interdependent parts of any organisation as well its 10 core business processes.
Operationally, virtually every business incorporates five primary systems, each of which functions in a linear process to meet organisational objectives. These are:
- Value creation – Developing a product or service in response to consumer demand.
- Marketing – The specific activities engaged in to promote the buying or selling of a product or service.
- Sales – The exchange of goods or services, typically as a result of paid transactions.
- Value delivery – Ensuring customer satisfaction by delivering what has been promised and providing ongoing support to maximise the customer experience.
- Finance – The ongoing allocation of financial resources according to company goals and priorities.
In addition, these 5 key functions can be further clarified into 10 fundamental processes that must work in a cohesive manner to establish a strong value chain:
- Marketing
- Human resources
- Governance
- Financial analysis
- Management
- Sales
- Product and service development
- Product and service delivery
- Accounting
- Technology
By managing these processes in a unified environment, ContinuSys brings together People, Assets, Finance, and Time, all of which work in Collaboration together to produce Information which, in turn, requires Governance – or PAFTCIG.
The ContinuSys suite of apps creates a comprehensive environment that acts as the foundation for the ContinuSys IBMS platform. Through the integration of these processes, we are able to help businesses achieve organisational resilience, which gives them the ability to foresee, prepare for, and adapt to changes – whether they be gradual or sudden – and ultimately thrive despite challenges. Our IBMS platform helps to deliver improvements in quality, safety, risk, and productivity. It also provides increased cost efficiency through reduced maintenance and the optimisation of processes and resources, while increasing accountability and consistency across every facet of your business.
Ready to learn more about C-IBMS software? Contact us to schedule a demo today.