Getting data from locked-in places with automation
Over the last 10+ years that BizXcel has been providing analytics services for insurance, retail, wholesale and manufacturing companies. Throughout this time, we have encountered numerous instances where organizations faced challenges accessing data from locked-in sources. These sources have taken many forms and had different reasons for the data being locked in. When the data is locked-in and unavailable for use, the company is not getting as much value from the data asset as could be possible.
BizXcel and Kick Bot Solutions make these data sources more accessible than ever. Using our BOT technology, we can scrape, utilize OCR, and extract data from just about anywhere!
One common scenario is legacy systems, where data has been historically inaccessible. Older applications used in organizations may pre-date using RDBMS and other database tools. However, using automation technology, data from these applications can be extracted directly from the application's user interface, just as a normal user would see the information on the screen themselves.
Another challenge arises from vendor lock-in or the lack of vendor APIs for bulk data extraction. In these cases, the applications might be modern, but for business reasons outside of the organization's control, bulk data analytics functionality remains inaccessible. There may be cases where the data can be extracted in bulk, but getting to the tools to do the extracts requires human interaction with the program. To address this, we can design automation solutions that mimic human interaction to retrieve information from the system. Automation technology can also access formally locked-in unstructured data like Word, PDF, Images, and Websites. With these cases, an automaton can be developed using scraping-based techniques to extract the text within the data to find what is needed. Scaping can be combined with optical character recognition or document recognition technologies to extract crucial and previously inaccessible data.
Arguably the most locked-in data source is the human brain. When quantitative information is unavailable, qualitative data can be a useful resource. Our bots are not designed to replace a human brain, but they can facilitate the gathering, structuring and reporting of said data. The human interaction features of our bots can provide a more engaging and efficient method of qualitative data gathering.
As the data is extracted from the source, the data can be staged into intermediate data formats more compatible with ETL and analytic tools. Staging areas can range from Excel to database to CSV to JSON or many other popular data formats. The data from these sources can also be distributed via automation as part of the process. For example, we can ingest a sales order in PDF format and convert it to text within an email, eliminating the need to click to open the attached file.
After the data is staged, it can be loaded into a data lake or analytics for review. The ETL process can further transform the data from these sources aiding in analysis and comparison with additional data sources.
In a company's analytics process, the availability of prepared and accessible data for consumers is crucial for making informed decisions. The more data that can be made available, the better-equipped consumers are to make effective decisions based on it. These sources can provide better contextual information to understand what is happening and what will happen to a company in the future. As more data becomes available to analysts and general users, new insights can be discovered, enhancing understanding of initiatives and organizational performance.
The more data which can be unlocked and extracted from traditionally unreachable locations, the more complete the picture a company has of its operations and performance. To find out more information about unlocking your data, please schedule a meeting with our team at https://www.bizxcel.com/contact