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Nonprofit organizations face a unique set of challenges: limited resources, fluctuating funding streams, and the need to prove impact to donors and stakeholders. While these challenges are nothing new, the tools available to solve them have evolved rapidly in recent years, thanks in large part to advancements in artificial intelligence (AI). By leveraging AI-powered solutions, nonprofits can make more informed decisions, optimize their operations, and ultimately achieve greater impact with fewer resources.

Last week, I had the privilege of attending the IBM TechXchange conference in Las Vegas along with several of my colleagues from QueBIT. The event was a whirlwind of innovative ideas, insightful presentations, and valuable networking opportunities. In this post, I'll share some key takeaways and exciting developments that are shaping the future of business intelligence and analytics.

Revolutionizing Strategic Decision-Making and Predictive Analytics

The integration of AI forecasting within supply chain management is revolutionizing how organizations predict and respond to market demands. AI models can process vast amounts of data in real-time, providing precise and actionable insights that optimize inventory levels, reduce costs, and enhance overall efficiency.

Unlocking New Possibilities with Advanced Analytics

The ability to accurately predict demand is more critical than ever. The rapid evolution of demand planning has been shaped by technological advances, particularly in artificial intelligence (AI). Companies are increasingly turning to AI-powered demand forecasting tools to stay ahead of market fluctuations, minimize waste, and optimize their supply chains. As businesses look toward the future of planning, AI and predictive analytics will become the cornerstone of successful demand planning strategies.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer just a buzzword—it's a transformative force that’s reshaping industries, particularly in the realm of finance. As organizations seek to enhance their forecasting accuracy, improve decision-making processes, and drive overall financial strategy, the role of AI becomes increasingly critical. However, the path to implementing AI effectively is often unclear, leaving many companies unsure of where to begin.

In the prior article, Part 1: IBM Satellite replacing the Secure Gateway, we discussed IBM’s change to how data is loaded through a VPN tunnel into Planning Analytics on Cloud, PAoC. The IBM Satellite replacement option should be ready later in August.

Beginning August 2024, IBM Planning Analytics on Cloud, PAoC, will begin replacing IBM Secure Gateway with IBM Satellite. The business problem that the Secure Gateway and Satellite tools solve is one of data security, specifically how to protect data in a hybrid environment with data in-transit between public and private cloud computing resources. Businesses have been shifting towards utilizing cloud resources like PAoC for a while now, but they still have significant local data, such as data warehouses and ERP systems in their own physical data centers or private clouds. The attractive benefits that caused the creation of PAoC, a cloud-hosted Platform as a Service (PaaS), meant that a safe and secure way of supplying data to PAoC needed to be found. IBM had available in its toolbox the Secure Gateway platform that creates encrypted tunnels between IBM Cloud Secure Gateway servers and private-cloud/on-premises data resources possessed by its customers. With Secure Gateway, data can safely flow data bi-directionally, keeping secure the “crown jewels” of financial data for the enterprise.

Implementing AI in financial forecasting can revolutionize how businesses predict future trends, manage risks, and drive decision-making processes. This blog post provides a detailed step-by-step guide on integrating AI into your financial forecasting efforts, covering crucial phases from initial data collection to model deployment and ongoing monitoring.