Top 4 reasons why you need a data portal

Gartner predicts that by 2023, organizations that prioritize data sharing will outperform their competitors.[1] It is no surprise, then, that we see growing demand from organizations for a data portal for their customers. This interest stems from the fact that customers increasingly prefer valuable digital interactions. Customers want and expect more insight into their own processes and want to be able to handle things themselves. After all, we are used to this from the companies we are customers of in our personal lives. Just think of your bol.com account with a complete overview of your orders, wishlist and invoices. Or your PostNL app with an overview of the letters and parcels you have received. Customers now expect access to, and insight into, their own data at both B2C and B2B level. With a data portal, organizations can meet this expectation.

What is a data portal?

But what is a data portal? A data portal comes in many forms, but in all cases it is an online environment where data sharing and data-driven interaction take center stage for a specific target group.

Such a data portal is not only good for your customers. There are also interesting benefits for your own organization. In this blog we look at 4 important reasons why a data portal is good for your organization.

1. New revenue models
2. Data collection
3. Generating more sales
4. Supply chain integration

Reason #1: Developing new revenue models

Organizations today have large amounts of data, not least thanks to all kinds of sensors and IoT developments. Thanks to all the technological developments in recent years in data management and analytics, we can generate new insights from this data quickly and easily. With those insights, your customers can make better decisions. We see more and more organizations starting to offer data-driven insights to customers as digital services. A data portal plays an important role here, because it serves as the platform on which these kinds of innovative services can be rolled out. In a data portal, customers can request personalized dashboards, reports and benchmarks for a fee. In this way you support new revenue models that make your organization ready for the future.

Reason #2: Data collection

A data portal can be used not only to provide data to customers, but also to collect data that is relevant to your organization. Think of requesting information through surveys or uploading files. The collected information can then be validated and processed fully automatically, or forwarded to other applications for further analysis (for example a data warehouse). Collecting data this way removes the need for manual handling. The data can then be used again to offer relevant services and insights to your customers, or to improve or optimize your own operational processes.

Reason #3: Generating more sales

A data portal can contribute to generating more sales in several ways. In a data portal, customers can find all the information relevant to them in a user-friendly way, at any time of day. Think of open orders, contracts and invoices. A data portal also allows customers to handle things themselves, for example requesting a quote. All of this contributes to customer satisfaction, which will have a positive effect on sales. In addition, customers can be tempted with personalized offers to purchase new products or services. Here too, data plays an important role. The more information you have about a customer, the better and more relevantly you can help them, and the more sales you can generate. Know your customer and they will stay your customer!

Reason #4: Supply chain integration

With a data portal, the various parties in a chain can work together better and more efficiently. By bringing supply and demand together in a data portal and linking systems with each other, processes can be streamlined and cost savings can be achieved. A good example of this is , the trade association of furniture makers in the Netherlands. Wood Loop is a digital platform for collecting and recycling wood waste, developed for furniture makers, wood suppliers and waste processors. In Wood Loop, furniture makers can order packaging crates for separating wood waste and report returns. Wood suppliers can view and claim orders and return reports in the portal, so that the crates can be delivered and/or collected together with the regular deliveries of sheet material by the wood supplier. Waste processors get insight via the portal into the stock levels of full packaging crates at the wood suppliers and can in turn collect the full crates for further processing. All relevant data for the entire chain in one place and made available through a data portal!

Webinar on 30 May | Data sharing is the future, and here is how to do it

Are you looking for the right data portal for your company? We develop data portals with the low-code platforms from Mendix and Microsoft. This allows us to build a tailor-made data portal in a relatively short time that integrates seamlessly with your existing application landscape and presents all your relevant data to your customers, or shares it with them, in an intuitive way. On 30 May we will tell you everything about data portals in a webinar. You will hear more about trends and developments, what a data portal is and what you can do with it, the value of a data portal for your company, and you will see a number of examples. Would you like to join? Then sign up via the button below.