Intapp DealCloud makes it easy to build custom dashboards and comprehensive reports based on aggregated proprietary and third-party data. This helps your firm quickly access and review information, as well as make informed decisions. Most data values can be automatically entered or updated to save your teams time and effort — but not all values are the same. Some values benefit from human review.
Colin Hannah, Technical Product Manager at The Carlyle Group, recently shared his tips for deciding when to automate and when to manually calculate data values within DealCloud. Read below for his insights on his decision-making process.
“Should we automate?”
- Why would we want a manual field?
- Consider using a manually calculated field if you want to make it easy to override the data value, update the value via an API, or hide the value from an entry form so you can maintain it while eliminating the risk of user errors.
- What are we hoping to accomplish with automation?
- Typically, you would automate to reduce data entry, aggregate data upon entry, or track modifications to the value over time. But if those goals don’t align with the purpose of the value, it may not be worth automating the field.
- Who needs this value?
- Consider the downstream effects of the data value and who might need to interact with the information. For example, if your accounting team requires a project code for expenses, you may want to automate that field to ensure the code remains consistent.
- Is automation the only or best solution?
- Sometimes automation really is the most efficient method of value tracking. For example, if there are 10 assets on a real estate transaction, automatically aggregating the assets under the deal simplifies tracking and ensures that any new assets are included as well.
“Should we calculate?”
If you’ve asked yourself the above questions and determined that automation may not be the best fit, Colin suggests asking yourself these additional questions to assess whether manual calculation is the right alternative.
- Is there repeatable logic?
- Manual calculations are ideal when there is repeatable logic that can be consistently applied.
- Does it drive permissions?
- Data-access permissions are user-based safeguards that ensure sensitive information is only accessible by the right people. To ensure accuracy, calculating data fields involved with verifying these permissions should always be a manual exercise.
- Is accuracy critical?
- When accuracy is vital — such as for compliance controls or data-access permissions — manual calculations ensure the values are always correct.
- Are we “dragging along” data?
- Are you using a calculation simply to transfer data from one object to another? For example, should details like an address or project code automatically carry over with the deal information? If so, automation may be the better choice.
- Are we using it in external outputs?
- If a value is only used internally, the need for consistency may not be critical, so having a team member manually review or calculate the data field may not be necessary. For example, automation could be a good choice for an internal username field where your team prefers — but doesn’t require — displaying a user’s initials rather than their full name.
- Are we adding many individual references to one value?
- If you’re building a list of multiple contacts that need to receive updates on one specific deal, for example, it may be valuable to input the information yourself to ensure the right people are subscribed.
Automate and calculate with confidence
Choosing between automation and manual calculation ultimately comes down to understanding the unique needs of your firm and the data you’re working with. While automation streamlines processes and reduces manual errors, there are times when the precision and control manual calculations offer are necessary.
Using the evaluation process above, you can confidently decide whether to automate or calculate — and ultimately ensure that DealCloud works in the most effective way possible for your teams.
Interested in learning how the data management capabilities in DealCloud can benefit your firm? Schedule a demo.