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Data Insights

From data chaos to insight and action with AI

The knowledge platform for data-driven SMEs

Den Otter Solutions publishes Data Insights — practical articles at the intersection of business management and data analytics, written specifically for SMEs. The articles are written by Rob den Otter, an Analytics Translator with over 25 years of experience in supply chain, operations and finance. Each article addresses one concrete business question: from inventory optimisation and procurement control to dashboard design and data governance. The insights are organised across four pillars — Business & Supply Chain, Data & Tech, Data Maturity & Strategy, and Automation & AI — so you can navigate directly to the topic that matters to your organisation. All insights are grounded in hands-on experience with Power BI implementations at SME businesses.

When do you let AI do the work — and when a person?

Automation & AI

We write about automation and AI that genuinely adds value — and about the line where a person needs to stay in the work. From choosing the right processes and automating invoice processing to the question of what AI may decide on its own, what it costs, and how you get from a signal on your dashboard to a concrete action.

Where to start
Which processes should you automate with AI?
Which processes lend themselves to AI automation — and which should you leave alone?
Finance & admin
Automate invoice processing
How do you automate invoice processing without losing control?
Governance & trust
What can AI decide on its own?
Where can AI act on its own, where does a person keep control — and what does the EU AI Act say?
Cost & ROI
What does AI automation cost?
What does it cost to automate a process with AI — and when does it pay off?
From insight to action
From dashboard to action
Your dashboard shows where things go wrong — but when should something happen automatically?

How does data improve your business results?

Business & Supply Chain

We write about the direct connection between operational data and business results. From inventory optimisation and procurement control to the hard ROI of data analytics — each article answers a concrete financial or logistical question that SME directors deal with daily.

Inventory & working capital
Control your inventory through data
How much working capital is tied up in your warehouse — and how do you make that visible?
Procurement & spend
Stop maverick buying with Power BI
What does it cost when departments buy outside contracts — and how do you stop it?
Business case
The ROI of data analytics for SMEs
What does investing in data analytics actually deliver for an SME?
Sustainability & compliance
CSRD reporting for SMEs
Does your business need CSRD reporting — and can you do it without extra headcount?
Finance
Why your accounting software doesn't deliver management information
The gap between your bookkeeping and the decisions you need to make — and how Power BI bridges it.

What technology powers reliable dashboards?

Data & Tech

The technical side of data analytics, translated into plain language. We explain why a single data model ends number disputes, how to design a dashboard that gives direction in five seconds, and when your data architecture is ready to scale.

Data model & architecture
Single Source of Truth: the data model
Why does your management team still argue about numbers — and how does one data model fix that?
Dashboard design
Dashboard design: the 5-second rule
Does your dashboard tell you in five seconds whether your business is on track?
Scalability
Scalable data analytics with Power BI
Can your data analytics scale as your business grows — or do you have to start over?
AI & Copilot
Preparing your Power BI for AI: Copilot-readiness checklist
Why the quality of Copilot answers depends entirely on your data model — and how to fix it in five steps.
Report & dashboard
The difference between a report and a dashboard
Most SMEs build the wrong instrument. When do you need a report — and when do you need a dashboard?

How does your organisation grow into data-driven decision-making?

Data Maturity & Strategy

Implementing data analytics is not an IT project — it is an organisational change. We describe how SMEs can assess their data maturity, which pitfalls cause most implementations to stall, and how to set up data governance without bureaucracy.

Maturity model
The 5 phases of data maturity
What stage of data maturity is your organisation in — and what is the next step?
Implementation
Power BI implementation pitfalls
Why do most Power BI implementations fail — and how do you prevent that?
Governance
Agile data governance for SMEs
How do you keep control of your data without governance becoming a bureaucratic monster?
Analytics Translator
The Analytics Translator: the missing link in data projects
Why data projects fail without a translator between business and technology — and what the role means for SMEs.
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Last updated: April 2026