it2bit
The Corporate Cortex

Bringing external and internal data together in order to measure, model and understand how your organization and business objectives are impacted by uncertainty.

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About Us

Making risk management intelligent

What is this all about?

Conventional risk management systems are nothing more than static databases. Risks are assessed and reported on a monthly or quarterly basis while the volatile world out there changes every second.

Don't get us wrong, risk management is an essential corporate function. But with all the data which is available inside a company and externally it's time to bring risk management to a new level:

Making risk management intelligent. This is the mission of it2bit.


And why it2bit?

The name it2bit is derived from the idea that everything which happens in the physical world (it) is represented by information (bit) which can be used for better decision-making, hence it-to-bit.

Today, information, i.e. internal and external data, is available in abundance. The challenge is to bring it together in a sensible way and interpret it, just like to cortex of the human brain.

In order to build such a corporate cortex, experts from different areas partnered: experienced quantitative risk managers, data scientists, machine learning experts, specialists in areas like supply chain, finance, operations etc. and last but not least IT engineers who ensure that our software comes with cutting edge functionality and as user-friendliness.

it2bit was born, both the name of the company and the solution.

Our Solution

Building risk intelligence upon a solid fundament

The Base Layer

We believe that the base layer of it2bit is the most flexible and intuitive risk management system of the planet. It depicts your corporate organization, functions, regions and other structures your can chose freely, for example product lines, vital processes, corporate goals etc. Possible impacts on your business and their interdependencies can be modelled in a simple, intuitive yet mathematically correct way, both qualitatively of quantitively. Beyond the conventional risk management approach, the base layer of it2bit does not only measure the impact on risks & opportunities on the “bottom-line”, but allows a deeper analysis of which parts of the business, market-side, sourcing-side, operations are affected by one and the same event or volatility.

The Corporate Cortex

In a second step the system is connected to internal and external data sources (for example supplier data from SRM, customer data from CRM, 3rd party credit information, market prices and indices, country information, news etc.). The system becomes a multi-layer-multi-dimensional web which represents the interaction of your organization through its functions with the world around.

Enhanced with data, it2bit becomes “alive”, we call it the “Corporate Cortex”. Through advanced AI methods it2bit learns to recognize patterns, give alerts in real-time, reveal interrelations.

The Evolution

Connect your risk management with the volatile outside world

Your business as part of a web


Your company interacts with the “world” through its FUNCTIONS, such as sales, sourcing, logistics, human resources, treasury, R&D, production etc. Each of these FUNCTIONS is continuously being impacted by external EVENTS.
A few examples:

  • changing demand, default of customer → sales.
  • Delay of supplier, quality problems of supplier, raw material price → sourcing.
  • Strike, oil price → logistics.
  • Availability of qualified staff → human resources.
  • Interest rates, fx-rates → treasury.
  • Black-out → production.


Note: prices, rates and indices are nothing else than chains of events over time, hence time-series. Their impact can also be positive, e.g. raw material price decrease.
The IMPACT on a FUNCTION can be quantitative (EBIT) and/or qualitative on pre-defined corporate goals. Examples: business continuity, reputation, customer satisfaction, deliver reliability etc.

Some EVENTS impact various FUNCTIONS at the same time. Some EVENTS have indirect IMPACTS e.g. via suppliers or customers. Some EVENTS are correlated (probability to happen simultaneously). There are cause-effect CASCADES of EVENTS.

Managing Complexity

This leads to a multi-layer-multi-dimensional web of direct and indirect causes and impacts, cascades of impacts and statistical correlations which include your company, your markets, your raw materials, your products, customers, customers of your customers, suppliers, suppliers of your suppliers etc. These components “interact” in multiple ways which are, in our volatile world, uncertain and change over time. In other words: complexity. Managing this complexity is key to the success of an organization.

How (1) - Building the Base Layer

First of all we will assess (quantitatively / qualitatively) possible IMPACTS in corporate FUNCTIONS and map them, if you are a bigger organization, on corporate UNITS in geographical REGIONS. At this stage we can already define OWNERS and MEASURES, which mitigate the (negative) IMPACTS. The base layer is multi-dimensional yet relatively static and hence easy to manage. Organizational changes happen from time to time only, owners are entitled to re-assess IMPACTS and MEASURES regularly,for example on a quarterly basis.


How (2) - Connecting EVENTS as drivers

In the next step we connect external EVENTS with the different IMPACTS in the different functions of UNITS in REGIONS. Note: we can also connect internal EVENTS for the sake of completeness of the system (example: failure of bottleneck machine or plant). Reminder: EVENTS can be changes of prices, rates and indices (market data) or disasters, bankruptcies etc. This already reduces complexity by magnitudes. Instead of monitoring all the possible IMPACTS, we look at EVENTS as their drivers.



The Corporate Cortex


Information is available in abundance. Externally as market data and worldwide press information in the internet. Internally as data in the respective systems of the functions (CRM, SRM, treasury, finance, operational data etc.). If we interpret corporate functions as brain regions which control the body and external information as input via the senses, we need to built something similar to a cortex of the human brain, a corporate cortex which connects all the information in a meaningful and efficient way. This is what it2bit does, based upon the essential relations defined in the base layer on which internal and external information is mapped.

Internal information

  • Suppliers: location, quantities, performance; ideally their key-suppliers, sensitivity to markets (fx, raw materials).
  • Customers: location, quantities; ideally competitors, other key-suppliers, sensitivity to markets (fx, raw materials etc.).
  • Treasury: exposures, leverage.
  • Operations: bottlenecks, key elements of business continuity, quality data
  • Controlling: cycles, planning assumptions.


External information



  • Market data: currencies, interest rates, stock indices, sector key indicators, economic indicators, raw material prices.
  • Market information, i.e. sector or region.
  • Specific news down to regional and local level: articles on companies (suppliers or customers), local disasters and threats, political changes, projects.


Our Competences

Building your Corporate Cortex

Consulting

  • Build customer and industry specific risk databases.
  • Validate risk assessments.
  • Implement enterprise risk management systems.
  • Integrate corporate planning and risk management.
  • Assess risks in specific areas, e.g. operational risk, credit risk, supply-chain risk, financial risk, legal & compliance risk, strategic risk,CSR etc.
  • Enhance risk management with external and internal data.
  • Analyse the multi-dimensional impact of external events in an organization.
  • Reveal indirect impacts via suppliers or customers.
  • Detect and map cascades of cause-effect.
  • Consider correlations.

Base System Highlights

  • Customizable dashboard with charts, overviews and limits.
  • Completely flexible representation of organizations, risk catalogues, regions, processes, products, and functions.
  • Intuitive navigation along the risk management process.
  • Quantitative and qualitative assessment based upon corporate objectives.
  • Single risk, consolidated view, and graphical visualization in one screen with out switching.
  • Multi-dimensional risk analysis with free parameter setting - "slice-and-dice", drill-downs "at-a-click".
  • Definition and monitoring of measures and controls.
  • Analysis of measure efficiency.
  • Definition and monitoring of risk limits
  • Integrated reporting engine for standard and taylor-made reports.

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Corporate Cortex Highlights

  • Add external events which impact different corporate units and functions at the same time.
  • Define cause-effect realtions.
  • Enhance risk assessmente with internal and external data
  • Link suppliers and customers with external feeds.
  • Assessment and analysis of multi-dimensional impacts of external events.
  • Assessment of indirect impacts via suppliers or customers.
  • Detect and visualize cascades of cause-effect relations.
  • Simulate scenarios.
  • Early warning system.

QAF

Questions finally answered

  • What is the impact of a natural desaster in X on the organization?

    Conventional risk management systems fail to depict multiple effects on an organization. Such an event might impact the local production in X directly, lead to an interruption in a production chain where products from X are needed, have indirect impacts via suppliers in X or cause a loss of demand in the region. it2bit uses external events as drivers which might impact on organzation in multiple ways, directly and indirectly, and trigger chains of events (cascades).

  • Who has the news first can react before the others. There is no lack of information, it's just that conventional risk management systems don't use it. it2bit connects world wide newsfeed based upon key words to risks, e.g. key customers or suppliers, which creates alerts and gives you the chance to analyze what happened and act before your competitors.

  • Well, this creates a lot of admin in conventional systems. it2bit considers market data in realtime and updates - if you wish - your risks automatically. This includes raw material prices and interest rates if you are sensitive to them. By the way: market "risks" are opportunities at the same time if prices move into a positive direction from your organizational point of view. i2bit can consider this.

  • Conventional risk management systems are static, create additional admin for local risk owners and give nothing interesting back. it2bit adapts to the local organization and can display what matters to them, becoming a platform where people are interested to go.

  • The complexity in business is immense but somehow we have to deal with it. it2bit is a tool which allows to reduce complexity to something managable and depict it. The system itsself can be installed in a way which makes it the most user-friendly and intuitive system for local users while being a powerful tool for managing complexity for corporate risk managers.

Contact Us

Contact us to get started

Locations:

54160 Forest Grove Ave
Elkhart, IN 46514, USA

Sheikh Rashid Tower, Office 1703
PO Box 9517, Dubai World Trade Centre
Dubai, UAE

Call:

+1 574 215 6290 (USA)
+1 574 485 2321 (USA)

+971 56 114 5045 (UAE)
+971 4 323 4303 (UAE)