KYDSP – Know Your Data, Systems and Processes

Know your customer, or “KYC”, is a common acronym across financial services — including superannuation. KYC demands knowledge of a customer’s identity, suitability, and the risks involved in dealing with them. However, there’s a gap in organisation’s understanding of the landscape in which they’re making these decisions. According to ASIC Chair, Joe Longo, superannuation funds should do more to “KYB” — know your business. Longo commented on many of the penalties recently issued to both industry and retail funds, characterising them as “examples of not knowing your business.” He went on to say that “at the heart of the issue is leadership that doesn’t have a grip on the fund’s data, systems and processes — and the customers who suffer for it.” Clearly, there are improvements to be made. To truly understand customers and how to best serve them, we must first understand the data, systems and processes that comprise our organisations.

So, how do leaders get a grip on their data, systems and processes, and what are the consequences — beyond fines — for not doing so?

KYDSP – Know your data, systems and processes

The types of leaders called out by Longo span the spectrum of organisational leadership – from C-suite executive to general managers. For most of them, long gone are the days of working in the trenches, when they would have been in touch with the beating heart of their organisations. To compensate for the greater distance, they now require to-the-point, accurate and current information about their organisations. This can be delivered in several ways — for example, briefings and workshops. However, they are time poor and often find that the only time they have to review information in peace is outside of business hours. This would doubtless sound familiar to leaders across all kinds of industries. Thankfully, there’s a simple solution to the problem — dashboards. Some may feel that this is an obvious answer. And yet, we’ve seen dashboarding done poorly — resulting in products of limited value that business leaders ultimately give up on trying to use. This can be avoided by getting a few key components right.

APIs and Data Accesability

Leaders are typically guided by cost and immediate requirements when approving new systems or data sources. Increasingly, they also consider how well these systems interface with data visualisation tools and their overall data accessibility. One crucial aspect that leaders must evaluate is the completeness and sophistication of a system’s APIs (application programming interfaces). APIs allow data within organisational applications to flow seamlessly into business intelligence platforms, enabling effective dashboarding (see Figure A).

Figure A: Data, API, Visualisation Flow Diagram

Not all APIs, however, offer the same level of functionality. Poorly designed APIs, which fail to expose all necessary data, severely limit the value of a software’s dashboarding capabilities. While it may be a tall order to ask leaders to be deeply involved in assessing these capabilities, it’s important that they are armed with enough knowledge to be dangerous. Being able to ask the right questions of the team(s) undertaking the assessment is an important way of ensuring systems deliver on their promise of being genuinely “API-enabled.”

Data quality

Data quality is foundational to successful data-driven initiatives. The adage “garbage in, garbage out” is especially relevant in dashboarding. Leaders are ultimately responsible for their organisation’s data being accurate, consistent, complete, and reliable. Maintaining a clear inventory of data, understanding its sources, and assigning accountability for data integrity are crucial steps. Without robust data governance, dashboards risk presenting misleading rather than actionable insights, potentially resulting in poor decisions, regulatory breaches, and diminished stakeholder trust. Thus, active data governance is not merely a compliance matter — it is essential for strategic decision-making.

Business intelligence tooling

Choosing the right business intelligence (BI) platform is crucial for dashboard effectiveness. Dashboards must empower leaders with interactive, real-time insights. Tools like Power BI and Tableau have become popular because of their intuitive user interfaces, robust visualisation capabilities, and ease of integration. Leaders must align tool selection with organisational needs, considering factors such as ease of use, scalability, cost-effectiveness, and strategic alignment. The right BI platform significantly enhances decision-making agility, governance, and compliance outcomes.

Data Literacy

The effectiveness of dashboards hinges on user capability as much as on technology. Data literacy — understanding data sources, flows, and implications — is indispensable. Leaders should be proficient in interpreting visualisations and questioning underlying data assumptions. Organisations can foster data literacy through training and continuous learning initiatives. Improved data literacy leads to better strategic conversations, more informed decision-making, higher compliance standards, and a proactive approach to data governance.

Process confidence

Clear, documented processes ensure reliable data inputs. Regular audits and proactive improvements reinforce accuracy and consistency. Leaders must champion continuous process improvement, questioning whether existing workflows align with strategic goals or inadvertently introduce risks. Process confidence promotes operational efficiency, reduces risks, and enhances customer experience. Organisations with robust processes leverage dashboards effectively to support strategic decision-making and adaptability.

Longo’s assertion about the state of KYDSP among leaders is both harsh and fair. Without this intimate knowledge of the data, systems and processes that are foundational to our organisations, we risk reputational damage and reduced trust among those who are most critical to our success – our members. Dashboards are a humble yet powerful tool for leaders to build organisational knowledge, resilience, compliance and superior customer service. When coupled with robust governance, advanced analytics, predictive modelling and automation, dashboards have the potential to transform leadership’s observation and comprehension of their organisation.

KYDSP – Know Your Data, Systems and Processes is part of The Quarterly – Q3 FY25

The production of our quarterly report is led by Novigi’s Market Strategy and Propositions team: 

This article was also strengthened by a wider group of Novigi specialists, whose withering years of toil and rich experience added depth and clarity to the perspectives shared. 

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