Mining and manufacturing companies can improve performance and collab-oration, as well as prepare for future business intelligence systems, by determining how they use information technology (IT) services, says unified email and data service company Mimecast customer experience director Christelle Hicklin.

The way in which a company uses IT systems can effectively determine what infrastructure will improve the performance of end-users and determine the relationships between different datasets, which will be the basis for an effective business intelligence and unified information system.

Most companies can do business analysis without significant investment in IT infrastruc-ture and often requires only an appetite and understanding to drive the process, she says.

Establishing a unified information system often requires managers to ask people on the shop floors what they need and determine how such a system can help them perform their functions more effectively.

“Determining the patterns of use can also form the basis for use of unstructured data to add detail and value to end-user functions.”

While it can be difficult to implement busi-ness intelligence systems for complex mining and manufacturing systems, companies should use their vendors to generate more perfor-mance from IT systems and use more infor-matics on the shop floor.

“The manufacturing industry may be lagging behind other industries in the use of technology to improve collaboration and real-time information sharing. A unified information system can also add to the sense of corporation among distributed sites of a company, enabling more collaboration to add value to various business functions across a company,” she notes.

A business intelligence and unified infor-mation system can identify the value of individuals in a large company. Recognition and competition can be used to improve performance without increasing costs.

Changing the way in which users access information and perform functions is often the single biggest barrier and companies should use vendors to help implement new unified information systems. They should understand the developments and nuances of an industry and a close working relationship between vendors and companies is required, says Hicklin.

“Manufacturing and mining companies should understand the diverse user requirements and map them to infrastructure requirements. CIOs should consider this and use a vendor strategy to deliver on this overarching IT and business intelligence strategy,” she says.

Consideration of how communication occurs in the company, especially in a global or in a dispersed company, such as a mining house, is necessary to ensure consistent information flow. Some companies may consider retaining certain functions and databases on premises, but this increases costs, compared with a distributed cloud model, explains Hicklin.

“A cloud model can reduce the fragmenta-tion that is a hallmark of many companies’ IT systems and user base. The disparity between user experiences on fragmented systems is a key consideration in deploying unified cloud services to improve performance across the company. A cloud model can make a service easier and more accessible for end-users,” she adds.

The pressures on, particularly, the mining industry necessitates that CIOs demand help from vendors to cut costs. CIOs should be prescriptive in doing so, which requires developing a detailed strategy on the functions and requirements of end-users.