It’s widely accepted that technology is the key driver of economic growth in countries, regions, and cities – and the same goes for businesses. A strategic approach to IT can be the difference between a company that suffers growing pains and one that makes the transition smoothly.
If your company is growing now is the right time to think about how investment in technology can prevent problems that might hamper that growth in the long run. Here are some of the ways that technology can help drive growing business to success.
Helping businesses work smarter
Many businesses in the UK have already moved entire workloads over to the cloud and are seeing benefits of a more productive workforce. A cloud-based solution can offer a high level of flexibility, security and scalability to businesses with i-house and remote teams. Data storage is almost unlimited – allowing you to scale up as the business grows and more users are needed.
Automating business processes
As businesses grow, processes become more complex – putting robust systems in place is essential at the earliest stage to ensure success. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) integrates multiple business functions into one process. Applications can seamlessly talk to one another and keep up with vital information such as costs, inventory and invoicing.
Automated processes like ERP can transform a business – reducing costs, minimising duplication, saving time and decreasing the risk of delays or errors caused by misinformation. Most importantly, a well-designed system can easily grow along with the business it serves.
Better communication
One of the many challenges businesses face today is managing remote teams. With the continued growth of home and flexible working, employers need to find new ways to get staff to build good working relationships with colleagues.
Technology is the key to better communication and there are some great products on the market now that enable collaborative working. Applications like Microsoft teams or slack have video, file sharing and chat functionality for everyone to use. Remote workers can get involved with important projects and collaborate with the team in the office.
Improve the customer experience
Thanks to new technologies, the way we interact with customers has changed significantly over the years. Even the smallest changes can make a big difference in retaining and attracting customers. Integrating chatbots or personalisation through artificial intelligence are ways to make customer experience better.
Securing data
According to recent research, a UK business falls victim to a cyber-attack every 2.5 minutes.
Anti-virus, anti-malware and multi-factor authentication are effective prevention methods to tackle the growing threat. A managed IT solution can provide 24/7 monitoring to detect suspicious behaviour and remain up to date with the latest methods used by hackers, so complete peace of mind.