Fuel Better Business Performance Management

with Exception Management

Maximise Business Intelligence Through the

Strategic Use of Exception Management

Exception management refers to the process of identifying, assessing, and managing outliers or anomalies in data sets – a process that holds profound significance in running a business effectively and seamlessly.

In today’s competitive landscape, where everyone has access to similar kinds of data, exception management offers a unique edge and plays a critical role in modern business performance management.

While conventional wisdom tells us to focus on general trends, exceptions often hold the key to transformative business insights.

They serve as red flags that signal underlying issues, or gold mines that offer unprecedented opportunities to improve the management efficiency of a particular entity within your business.

Exception management refers to the process of identifying, assessing, and managing outliers or anomalies in data sets – a process that holds profound significance in running a business effectively and seamlessly.

In today’s competitive landscape, where everyone has access to similar kinds of data, exception management offers a unique edge and plays a critical role in modern business performance management.

While conventional wisdom tells us to focus on general trends, exceptions often hold the key to transformative business insights.

They serve as red flags that signal underlying issues, or gold mines that offer unprecedented opportunities to improve the management efficiency of a particular entity within your business.

Exception Management: Upward Momentum of a Business

Momentum and Daily Averages

Understanding the momentum of a business is critical. An upward and positive trend in business momentum indicates growth.

Assessing business momentum involves tracking daily averages and analysing trends in KPIs, financial metrics, and other relevant factors, over time.

Businesses can then better understand their overall health and trajectory, and make informed decisions to capitalise on positive trends or address challenges to regain momentum.

Short, Medium and Long-Term Indicators

In every business, there are management levels responsible for the tactical (short-term), operational (medium-term), and strategic (long-term) elements of the business.

Depending on your business’s industry and environment, tactical can relate to a 30-day view of your business performance; operational to a 60-day view; and strategic to a 90-day-plus view.

Aligning this to the momentum of your business, a decline in your momentum in the short, medium or long-term, would determine the management level in your organisation responsible for taking action to turn your momentum around.

Exception Management: Tactical, Operational and Strategic Management
Exception Management: Triggers and Automated Alerts

Triggers & Automated Alerts

When your business momentum declines and performance drops below a pre-defined metric, then an automated alert is triggered to signify that immediate action is required.

As long as your performance is below the pre-defined metric, your performance will display a red icon, indicating the need for an intervention. One can easily see that a green icon therefore means performance is on track, while an orange icon indicates a decline not yet below your pre-defined metric.

Proactive Problem Solving

Referring back to the levels of management responsibility and the short, medium, and long-term indicators, an automated trigger would prompt the tactical team to resolve the problem in the short term (i.e. in 30 days).

This team would delve into the reasons behind the anomalies, formulate a strategic solution, fostering a proactive approach to problem-solving. Should the problems not be resolved in the short term, it is then escalated to the operational management, followed by the strategic management.

To avoid the escalation, a set of processes are put into place to ensure immediate and effective action is taken. Through a workflow process, the system creates a document to define the necessary corrective actions and also sets up a meeting with the appropriate team. The solution is captured to an AI-driven knowledge base, which can be used for automated remediation in the future.

Exception Management: Proactive Problem Solving

Features of Exception Management

Understanding exceptions in your data is just the tip of the iceberg, managing them effectively is where the real goldmine of insights lies. Here are key aspects of exception management in business intelligence:
Data Monitoring

Continuous monitoring of data to identify inconsistencies, errors, or outliers in the datasets.

Thresholds and Rules

Establishing predefined thresholds and business rules defines normal or acceptable data. Deviations trigger alerts for potential issues.

Alerts and Notifications

Automated alerts and notifications are triggered to relevant stakeholders when exceptions occur.

Documentation and Reporting

Documentation of exceptions and their resolutions is captured to an AI-driven knowledge base that can be referenced in the future.

Automated Remediation

Exception management systems can include automated remediation processes to address common issues without manual intervention.

Continuous Improvement

Regularly review and update rules, thresholds, and processes to ensure that the exception management system remains effective.

Features of Exception Management

Understanding exceptions in your data is just the tip of the iceberg, managing them effectively is where the real goldmine of insights lies. Here are key aspects of exception management in business intelligence:
Data Monitoring

Continuous monitoring of data to identify inconsistencies, errors, or outliers in the datasets.

Thresholds and Rules

Establishing predefined thresholds and business rules defines normal or acceptable data. Deviations trigger alerts for potential issues.

Alerts and Notifications

Automated alerts and notifications are triggered to relevant stakeholders when exceptions occur.

Canvas Intelligence Exception Management
Documentation and Reporting

Documentation of exceptions and their resolutions is captured to an AI-driven knowledge base that can be referenced in the future.

Automated Remediation

Exception management systems can include automated remediation processes to address common issues without manual intervention.

Continuous Improvement

Regularly review and update rules, thresholds, and processes to ensure that the exception management system remains effective.

Benefits of Implementing Exception Management for Business Performance Management

Faster Issue Resolution

Quick identification of issues, allows for prompt resolution. This agility is crucial for maintaining current business momentum.

Proactive Risk Mitigation

Early detection of anomalies enables potential risks and issues to be addressed by the correct level of management before requirigng escalation.

Increased Operational Efficiency

The manual detection and identification of anomalies, and the manual remediation process is removed with an exception management system, AI and automation.

Competitive Advantage

Reliable data and the ability to respond swiftly to anomalies contribute to a more agile and competitive business environment.

Cost Savings

Automated monitoring and rule-based detection optimises the use of resources and increases efficiency, thereby contributing to overall operational cost-effectiveness.

Continuous Improvement

Regular reviews and updates to rules, thresholds, and processes ensure that your BI system remains adaptive and aligned with evolving business needs.

Process: Implementation of Exception Management

  • 1
    Data Collection

    Gather data from all relevant sources. The more comprehensive the data, the more accurate your exception reports will be.

  • 2
    Data Cleaning

    Preprocess the data to remove any noise or irrelevant information. This step is crucial for the algorithms to work efficiently.

  • 3
    Target Identification

    Set up triggers that alert you to changes in the ongoing performance of your defined KPIs, targets and key metrics.

  • 4
    Exception Alerts

    Utilise statistical techniques or ML models to identify exceptions automatically. These alerts proactive insight into any fluctuation in the data.

  • 5
    Exception Evaluation

    Not all exceptions are valuable. Assess the identified exceptions to determine their business relevance.

  • 6
    Action and Review

    Develop strategies to manage these exceptions. This could be an automated response or could involve human intervention at a tactical, operational or strategic level.

  • 7
    Feedback Loop

    Continuously monitor the effects of your actions to adjust your exception management processes and capture your solutions to an AI-driven knowledge base.

Ready to revolutionise your business intelligence journey?

Partner with us for effective exception management that gives you a competitive edge in your business environment.

Ready to revolutionise your business intelligence journey?

Partner with us for effective exception management that gives you a competitive edge in your business environment.
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