How Reporting Architecture Can Improve with Back-Office Outsourcing
As technology becomes more powerful and more accessible, our expectations of its abilities grow in equal measure. The power of pure number-crunching and the reports generated from Big Data reflect such assumptions. However, all of these advancements are for naught if your company struggles to build a reporting architecture that makes your information usable.
Thankfully, you can turn to back-office outsourcing (BPO) as a potential solution so that your company can develop the reports it needs. In this article, we’ll share:
- An introduction to reporting architecture
- A definition of BPO
- Three ways BPO can help your reporting architecture
While this can be a technical topic, company leadership should understand the benefits of these functions at a high level to better account for the impact on the bottom line.
What is Reporting Architecture?
At its roots, reporting architecture is a function of information architecture. It’s how your data warehouses, servers, and reporting tools interact to create the necessary reports you want for your company. To that end, there is no single design that will meet the needs of every single business. However, there is a basic flow to follow when setting up your systems.
- Data Collection Databases – gathering all possible data in one place
- Server Processors – handling all that information
- Data Parsing Database – sifting the data into relevant stacks
- Reporting Software – assembling the data into usable formats
- Data Analyst – determining what the report means
What truly matters for effective reporting architecture is having a clear map and standard processes for collecting, using, and creating reports.
What is Back-office Outsourcing ?
A topic near and dear to our hearts at EAG 1Source, back-office outsourcing (abbreviated as BPO) entails hiring an outside company to take care of essential day-to-day back-office tasks. The goal is to help companies make time for the activities that enable growth instead of worrying about the administrative aspects of their jobs.
BPO in the oil & gas industry includes handling tasks to support the following functional areas:
- Production accounting & reporting
- Land administration & division order
- Regulatory reporting
- Finance
- Information technology
For example, consider delegating nitty-gritty backend work like payroll to a 3rd party so that you can focus on what helps your company grow.
Let’s review three key ways you can increase the effectiveness of your company’s reporting architecture by handing those responsibilities to a BPO firm.
1. Increased IT Experience
You know what sort of reports you need from your data, but you probably lack the time and resources to properly set up your information architecture. By hiring a vetted BPO company, you will work with IT consultants who can develop the systems you need. They will take care of situations including:
- Database implementation
- Server configuration
- Software integration
- Architecture development
- Report rollout development & customization
Better yet, these experts can both maintain and upgrade them so that you can seamlessly scale them up as your business grows.
2. Dedicated Reporting Acumen
Essential BPO resources can go the extra mile and help your data analysts make sense of your reports. In this way, they act as third-party experts specific to your industry. They can complete tasks such as:
- Report creation & rationalization
- Report analysis
- Data visualization
- Short-term takeaways
- Long-term projections
By integrating their know-how into your workflow, your on-staff employees can focus on their day-to-day tasks more effectively. They can also increase their long-term proficiency by working with the outsourced expert and learning from their experience.
3. Enhanced Operational Efficiency
Like most interactions with outsourced consultants, your goal should be to work smarter and more effectively. It goes double for amplifying the success of your reporting architecture. Your company needs both excellent data and superior methods for sifting through that data.
Hiring a back-office outsourcing firm gives you access to industry leaders who can help you make sense of the information you’re collecting and give you actionable insights. The data can reveal gaps to fill, successes to celebrate, opportunities to explore, and more – all courtesy of a third-party authority who can provide the objective outsider’s perspective.
Experienced BPO Increases the Effectiveness of Your Reporting Architecture
Any business working with big data or seeking to engage in data analytics must have a robust reporting architecture in place. But unless you’re a full-on technology company, you probably don’t have the necessary IT professionals on staff to set up and optimize your technology stack. When you hire a back-office outsourcing firm, you will benefit from dedicated IT resources that can create the systems you need for successful reporting, complete with a long-term vision for expanding your efforts as you grow.
If you’re ready to accelerate your data and reporting capabilities, you should talk to EAG 1 Source today. We can power your IT platform with industry best practices, high-quality deliverables, and a committed staff that focuses on your success.