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Real-time data flows can provide competitive advantage

An audience views a presentation given by man in a sport coat against a backdrop that says "Becoming a Real-Time Busines."

Peter Weill of MIT tells the audience at the IFS Unleashed user conference about the benefits of being a "real-time business."

Ben Ames

"Real-time businesses" typically have more than 50% higher revenue growth and net margins than their peers, according to chairman of MIT's Center for Information Systems Research.

Companies that integrate real-time data flows into their operations consistently outperform their competitors, said Peter Weill, the chairman of MIT’s Center for Information Systems Research (CISR), in a session Wednesday at a conference held by IFS, the Swedish enterprise resource planning (ERP) and artificial intelligence (AI) firm.

These "real-time businesses," according to Weill, use trusted, real-time data to enable people and systems to make real-time decisions. By adopting that strategy, these companies gain three major capabilities:


  • Increased business agility without needing a change management program to implement it;
  • Seamless digital customer journeys via self-service, automated, or assisted multiproduct, multichannel experiences; and
  • Thoughtful employee experiences enabled by technology empowered teams.

The benefits of this real-time focus are significant, according to Weill. In a study with Insight Partners, he found that those companies that were best-in-class at implementing automated processes and real-time decision-making had more than 50% higher revenue growth and net margins than their peers.

Nor is adopting a real-time data stance restricted to just digital or tech-native businesses. Rather, Weill said that it can produce successful results for any companies that can apply the approach better than their immediate competitors.

Weill's remarks came today during a session titled “Becoming a Real-Time Business: Unlocking the Transformative Power of Digital, Data, and AI" at at the “IFS Unleashed” show in Orlando, Florida.

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