Data Is the New Oil—but Are You Still in 1859?

The Idea: Everyone knows "data is the new oil"...

Imagine dark pools of sticky liquid oozing into your world—a messy nuisance, inconvenient and seemingly useless. But what if that mess held the key to transforming your entire operation? That’s data in construction today: chaotic, untapped, and bursting with potential.

But right now, your data feels more like a burden than an asset.

Just like oil - the black, sticky liquid seeping out of the ground in Pennsylvania in the 1800's.

Sure, some people found uses for it, like burning it for light or smearing it on wounds, but for the most part, it was just "stuff lying around"—a byproduct that people didn’t quite know what to do with.

Just like data.

Then everything changed. Someone figured out how to refine that crude oil into kerosene, gasoline, and other fuels.  They turned the byproduct into energy that powered the Industry Revolution and largely formed our world today.

That messy puddle lying on the ground? It turned out to be the most valuable resource on the planet.

Today, your data is like oil in 1859—a messy, untapped resource waiting to be refined. Scattered. Stuck. Siloed. For many, data feels more like a burden than an opportunity.

The potential to harness and refine your data lies in understanding how to elevate it—turning it from a messy byproduct into a dynamic asset.

At Aedo, we call this process Data Elevation—a structured approach to transforming raw data into energy that powers better decisions, smoother operations, and business growth. Just as refining oil unlocked the Industrial Revolution, elevating your data can unlock new horizons for your business.

First a Story: From "data Tartarus" to "weekly insights at our fingertips"

All of our client relationships start from their pain. Pain and absurdity. Invaluable project operations and administration people spending the majority of their week doing manual data drudgery.

Data entry.

Moving data from one system to the next.

Creating spreadsheets that are out of date by the time they are ready.

It’s like being trapped in data Tartarus—a tormenting abyss where every week is an endless cycle of manual drudgery, frustration, and inefficiency.

But what if there was a way out?

Like many, one commercial drywall contractor was in this ‘data hell’ - a gruelling cycle of repetitive tasks that drain time, energy, and morale.

Every week they would be crushed on Monday and Tuesday, wrestling with timesheets to get payroll done and out the door. Incorporating complex region and rate rules. Ensuring lunch and break compliance.

Only to shift gears on Wednesday and start creating the Excel Manager Reports. Friday was "mistake fixing day"

A never ending deluge.

The way out of this hell was to first understand the job the data needed to do as it flowed from timecard to payroll. By understanding the business need and the manual work done between the field and office, the necessary data manipulation was streamlined and automated.

Before: Two gruelling days of data entry. After: Just 30 minutes validating information and catching errors before they occurred.

From 10+ hours to 30 minutes.

But wait, there's more.

By Monday at noon, leadership teams had this:

Not only was the data flow to payroll streamlined - leadership teams gained instant access to weekly insights—no delays, no drama, just results.

At. Their. Fingertips

The payback on this investment was absurd. We're not event going to try and tell you the return, because you won't believe us.

Join us next Thursday for 30 minutes and we'll show you how to do the impact math in your business. Details below.

The Framework

Their escape from data Tartarus started with the Data Elevation Framework—a step-by-step process that transforms messy, siloed data into actionable energy.

Here’s how it works:

1. Technology Utilization: Ensuring tools and systems are optimized for capturing and managing data efficiently, like refining oil for energy.

2. Improving Data Flow: Breaking down silos and streamlining data movement to eliminate inefficiencies— the intelligent pipelines moving data from where it is to where it needs to be.

3. Insight to Results: Turning refined data into actionable insights that impact business outcomes, much like using fuel to drive machines or power grids.

When teams focus on these areas, they elevate their data’s potential, transforming it into a dynamic asset rather than a stagnant cost-intensive resource.

Instead of wasting time on manual tasks, their team redirected energy toward high-value work that improved decision-making and operational clarity.

The Action

The industry has a technology problem.

The answer isn’t more technology—it’s a new perspective. If data is the new oil, how will you unlock its power to fuel your business?

For the trailblazers ready to act, start here:

1. Identify the bottlenecks in your operation. Where are your people stuck in frustrating, repetitive workflows?

2. Apply the Data Elevation Framework to your thinking of the situation:

   • Are the IT systems helping or hurting us?

   • Is the data flowing efficiently to where it needs to be?

   • Are we getting the information we need to run the operation?

This clarity is your starting point for harnessing data and driving dramatic business improvements.