CIO Top Investment Priorities - Analytics and Performance (Part 3 of 3 Series)

This article is the third in a three-part series that discusses how Allstacks can help CIOs and their dev organizations manage these investment priorities. If you haven’t read part one and part two, check them out!

Actionable Insights with Analytics/BI/AI/IoT/RPA

90% of the world’s data was generated over the last two years alone, equating to over 2.5 quintillion bytes of data per day. It is logical for us to seek meaning from all of this information, mainly since it describes the blurring boundaries between our physical and digital realities. What are the hidden insights we can glean from studying data? How can we use this information to collaborate, compete, and create our organizations anew?

While the world is full of emerging categories such as big data analytics, business intelligence, the Internet of Things, and robotic process automation, each new process has a single goal: we want to understand the data to benefit from what it’s telling us. And, while many different solutions are claiming to be chasing this desire, we are not only struggling to pick a platform, but we’re also struggling to define the questions the platforms need to answer.

Augmented data transformation processes with layered visualizations make nice reports, but they should also simplify the decisions that these reports inform. Moving to “best-in-class” tools can also mean signing up for a heterogeneous technology stack (sometimes unknowingly). This eclectic mix of tools can make for messy digital architecture, especially for CIOs and organizations looking to design integrated, continuous data-driven decision systems.

Software teams can be notorious for this because teams can mix and match all sorts of tools in a way that works best for how they work. We have seen a common theme from many of our own customers along these same lines. Even going so far as to allow each individual development team to define their own toolset! Leadership is frustrated with previous investments in analytics suites because many investments actually create more work in modern software development organizations.

At Allstacks, we believe that the age of analytics is entering its next phase of growth and intelligence. In this age, holistic data analytics will support the interconnectedness and complexity of your organization. The last stage was experimental. We have learned a lot from watching this transformation and are prepared to take the best and most informed processes and decisions and deliver them to you. The next phase is prescriptive and intentional.

Although CIOs are entering this next phase better informed than before, they will still have to avoid “shadow IT” or perpetuating the data silos and systems that don’t play nicely with one another. More importantly, they will find themselves asking questions they’ve never asked before. If we want to successfully create and act on prescriptive insights, we must build on top of a seamless stream of continuous and accurate information. That’s why we built Allstacks.

Allstacks helps you extract that locked-up value from your organization’s tools and work patterns that you’ve never seen before. By combining data from across your software engineering tools, we offer CIO’s complete visibility so they can ask new questions. Our prescriptive insights don’t just give you ways to digest the information. However, they also give you prescriptive alerts and actions. We hope that it changes how you build your organization and reframes how you realize the true power of cross-platform insights.

Getting more value out of previously made investments

Another symptom of adopting “best-in-class” tools is even more fundamental: return on investment. CIO’s are prioritizing previous large-scale technology investments, which are expensive and often underutilized assets. The capital allocation required to purchase, install, and maintain complex technology infrastructure will remain a costly endeavor. This priority begs the question: what is getting in the way of getting more value from previously made investments, and how can CIO’s ensure they reap the rewards of betting on new investments?

At Allstacks, we believe that two significant roadblocks get in the way: interoperability and data silos. Let’s explore how these challenges lock up potential value from your organization and how Allstacks helps unlock this value for you.

New tools and systems may not play nicely with one another, leading to a lack of integration flexibility, mismatched data structures, and the timing of reporting. The decision to acquire an enterprise-wide technology or innovation is a significant decision for your organization. Success will depend on the scale and scope of impact this technology has on the business as usual. Other CIO priorities, including people and digital transformation and upgrades, and business continuity, emphasize just how vital these purchase decisions are.

Whether you’re considering acquiring an entirely new platform, testing one out, or dealing with a previous purchase, Allstacks is here to help. Our cloud-first platform integrates tools that are less interoperable than intended, restoring systems to their proper form. Integrating your software development tools specifically, we normalize how tools are working alongside your team’s productivity so you can unlock and realize invested dollars in entirely new ways. You don’t make investment decisions in a silo, and you shouldn’t have to operate in one either.

Allstacks also helps you manage mismatched data structures that might be complicating an accurate and continuous assessment of performance across various dimensions. We often hear CIO’s who are frustrated with the mismatch between data across their systems. While one team adopts a technology while another purchases an entirely different tool for completely justified reasons. However, this can lead to duplicative efforts, especially if data structures need to be pieced together like a puzzle to get at fundamental questions. We believe there are more critical puzzles to solve.

Data silos trap operational and strategic value in different tools and workflow, making it difficult for CIOs to access and incorporate into their decision-making process. Integrating all of your software engineering team’s stack, Allstacks replaces nebulous integrations, mismatched data structures, and irregular measurement timelines. The result is a smooth and continuous perspective across all levels of your teams. Our rigorous analytical model leverages machine learning to help you see and realize this value through prescriptive alerts and recommendations. As CIO, you need to see problems as they emerge, not just the mess they leave once they’ve surfaced.

Allstacks removes the most challenging part of realizing value from previous technology investments. We are excited about our capabilities, and if you are too, please reach out to learn more!