It’s 2020 and virtually every business is a tech business. Your IT and digital infrastructure don’t just facilitate your operations, they give you a competitive edge. They help to make your business more streamlines, efficient and capable of delivering a higher standard of service to your clientele. But technology isn’t something that one merely throws money at and expects great outcomes. No matter how heavily you’ve invested in the technology that powers your business, there’s always a chance that you’re not getting all that you could be getting from your technology. Here, we’ll look at some of the reasons why you may not be getting the most out of your business tech… no matter how much you’re spending.
You’re Managing Your Own IT In-House
As an entrepreneur, you’re steadfast in your resolve to do things your way. Yet, while this may be the hallmark of what makes your brand resonate with your target audience, it’s not necessarily the right approach for every facet of your business. Especially where technology is concerned. Even if you’re highly tech literate, you need to defer to someone with more specialist knowledge to make sure your solutions are working as hard as they should in all the ways they should be. This is why so many companies entrust their tech to third parties like Safebit Solutions. Not only does managed IT support make your operations more efficient, it also saves you money and logistical complications. You can scale your provision in line with your growth, and upgrade with minimal downtime… which is much harder to do when you’re managing your own IT.
You’re Investing More in Tech Than in Training
Tech is great. But like any tool, it’s only as effective as the person using it. Investing in your employees is every bit as important as investing in your tech. And that means ensuring that they have the training to use your systems and hardware to their full capabilities, rather than limiting themselves to a handful of familiar features. Investing in your team pays off in a great many ways beyond harnessing the power of your technology, too. It helps them feel more autonomous, more empowered, more confident and better able to meet the high standards that your brand implies for them.
You’re Big on Data, but Small on Insight
We’re all aware of the importance of Big Data in business. But as keen as we are to collect and stockpile all kinds of data, we often aren’t leveraging it to its full potential. As your business grows, you may find that different departments start to operate in quasi-autonomous silos, watching their own performance metrics closely, but with little notion of how they serve your broader business goals. Investing in Business Intelligence software can help you to mine your data for actionable insights and reduce the time spent trawling through it.
You’re Communicating Across Too Many Platforms
Finally, communication is at the heart of what most of your business tech does. So make sure you’re using it more efficiently. Instead of tracking a conversation across text messages, emails and other messaging platforms, keep all your messages in the same place. This not only reduces the risk of miscommunication, it also makes it easier to interrogate your chat history for key facts, figures or dates.
