Single Source of Truth Meets the Next Generation of Relocation

If the 19th century marked the age of industrialization, and the 20th century the age of electrification and computerization, then the 21st century is surely the age of datafication. Data offers the potential for—in fact, has already led to—massive improvements in everything from personalized healthcare to consumer insights to climate modelling.

The World Economic Forum (WEF)  estimates that, by 2020, there will be 44 zettabytes of digital information (aka, tweets, blogs, searches, videos, etc.) in existence. Considering a zettabyte represents one sextillion bytes—i.e., a “1” followed by 21 zeros—this is a figure so large as to be nearly unfathomable. As the WEF puts it: “If this number is correct, it will mean there are 40 times more bytes than there are stars in the observable universe.”

This explosion in data has a number of implications, including the likelihood that, in the near future, companies will fall into one of two categories: those who “do data,” and those who don’t. And in the not-so-distant future? Well, that binary is likely to reduce further, with the most data-literate organizations rising to the top of their fields.

With so much data going in and out each day, how do you ensure that it remains structured, accessible, and digestible? Not to mention secure, reliable, and relevant? Enter one of the most vital paradigms in tech: the single source of truth.

Single Source of Truth: Mobility Data Comes Home

There is an old saying that goes, “A person with a clock always knows what time it is, but a person with two clocks never knows what time it is.” In other words, when you have more than one system purporting to represent the “truth” in a given environment, there is no reliable way to know which data set should govern. Quite the conundrum, right?

Case in point: Cartus survey data shows that more than 70% of relocation clients access three or more systems in order to manage their mobility programs, yet only 40% of respondents agree that their mobility data is both easy to access and reliable. No wonder more than four out of 10 companies are dissatisfied with their current relocation technology solutions. 

But what if there were a way for mobility managers and HR administrators to access a comprehensive, real-time snapshot of their entire relocation program, including expatriate compensation components, while capturing data from key suppliers—a true single source of truth? Moreover, what if they could quickly and easily access this information in real-time from any device, giving them the ability to intervene at critical moments to positively affect the outcome for individual employee moves?

What if there were a way for mobility managers and HR administrators to access a comprehensive, real-time snapshot of their entire relocation program, including expatriate compensation components, while capturing data from key suppliers—a true single source of truth?”

Introducing MovePro360: A Centralized Mobility Hub for the Next Generation of Relocation

When Cartus announced the upcoming release of our new centralized mobility hub, MovePro360SM, earlier this year, we did so with the knowledge that 86% of relocation clients agree that accessing data from a single source of truth is their number one “must have” in a technology platform.

That’s why we’re building MovePro360 using a flexible, API-based framework that will allow anyone to connect to it. In fact, Cartus is already in discussions with the leading HR software companies to integrate with the platforms that our clients are using today.

Factor in additional core elements from MovePro360’s product roadmap, such as assignment/expatriate compensation capabilities, extended business traveler solution, benefit selection tool, live sentiment tracking, predictive analytics dashboards, employee move status, and more, and the result is a powerful-yet-flexible multichannel mobility mecca.

Of course, the data is the easy part. Having managed 2.3 million relocations in the last 30 years alone (as one client noted, “The amount of info that Cartus has is probably the envy of other companies.”), the question isn’t how much data you have, but how you surface and exchange it.

The amount of info that Cartus has is probably the envy of other companies.”

~ Cartus client during MovePro360 user journey mapping

To ensure that data never overwhelms our users’ capacity to manage it, Cartus incorporates feedback at every phase of our Agile development lifecycle.

From Fragile to Agile: Creating a Durable, Desirable Product

The beauty and power of following an Agile approach, which Cartus has implemented throughout our IT and Product teams, is that it requires you to bring your stakeholders into the process from day one, considering their ideas and incorporating feedback into the prioritized product backlog that forms the basis for development. It’s a simple but effective concept that ensures flexible design, relevance, and powerful results.

To that end, we interviewed and sought feedback from more than 30 client representatives and an equal number of internal Cartus stakeholders as part of MovePro360’s initial ideation, design, and build phases. All participants have been excited and highly engaged in providing their insights to influence our path, and we will continue with this iterative (i.e., Agile) approach with each successive release.

Beyond the capabilities identified previously, our mid-to-long-term vision for MovePro360 is to answer the question: How can Cartus help clients track assignment objectives—or, even more broadly, assignment success—and how does that tie into the organization’s own talent management program? Until then, we’re hard at work turning our near-term vision into reality.

For more information: Visit www.cartus.com

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