Technology is a wonderful thing and designed to make us more efficient, productive and adaptable. Well, that’s the theory, at least. The reality can often be a lot different, especially when it comes to running a business.
These days, there is a vast array of technology available for use, and with so much choice on the table, it can be incredibly difficult for business owners to make the right buying decisions. And when it comes to updating and upgrading systems, things are even worse – many companies make do with what they have, even when they are blatantly the wrong solution.
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In fact, research suggests that businesses lose somewhere in the region of between 20 and 30 percent of their revenue down to difficult-to-use systems that hinder progress rather than ease it. If you want to ensure your technology is improving your bottom line rather than damaging it, there are a few things to consider. Let’s take a look at everything you need to know.
Keep it together
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As pointed out over at VALiNTRY, many businesses have a vast array of technology needs, including everything from servers and databases to programming languages and operating systems.
It’s a huge challenge to ensure these different systems work together, sync with each other, and keeps everything connected. In many cases – particularly with small businesses – it’s often a better option to outsource your IT systems rather than using up valuable resources dealing with the complexities in-house.
Integration
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Integration is vital if you want to ensure maximum efficiency. If you are using different systems, it can be tricky to make sure that they can ‘talk’ to each other. It can cause a vast range of problems.
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For example, you could end up having employees from different departments wasting time and energy copy and pasting – or even rewriting – entire documents. It is critical that you can streamline your technology to ensure your processes are as efficient as possible.
Understanding data
Helping Business Visualize Big Data
Big data is a popular topic at the moment, but the reality for most businesses is that it is challenging to understand, let alone use it to benefit the company. It can be incredibly difficult – not to mention time-consuming – to sift through the enormous amount of dust to find the specks of gold in big data, and take advantage.
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Big data is often siloed, too, meaning it is kept in disparate units which have nothing to do with each other. Insight is hard to gain, and whether you are looking for marketing patterns or sales reports, the information you have can be messy, muddled, and impossible to tie together.
Shelflife
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Finally, technology moves fast – too fast, some might say. Disruptive technologies are appearing on the market on an almost monthly basis, meaning the system you invest so heavily in now could well be redundant by the time it is installed. And putting all your eggs in one particular basket can prove fatal. Many businesses fail because they don’t have the technology to keep up with their leaner, more adaptable rivals.
As a rule, technology can be a fantastic benefit for your company – but you need to be aware of the vast problems it can cause, too. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
