The Power Of Tech In Business
Things are changing, and things are changing fast. It feels that not too long ago people had one phone per household. This phone was physically attached via a wire, and when you wanted to dial somebody, you were hoping there weren’t too many nines or zeros in the number. Also, if it rang, you had no way of knowing who would be on the other end without actually having to pick it up.
Flash Forward To Technology Today
Nowadays we walk around with the computing power of a fully-fledged PC from 10 years ago, in our pockets or bags or wherever you have your smartphone. We used to chuckle and marvel at watching Star Trek and seeing someone flipping out a communicator and having a live video conversation.
Well, we are here now. Love it or hate it, technology is changing our lives fast. Whether you are a willing participant or a reluctant straggler, there is just no escaping how our lives are getting digitized.
Technology Is Changing How We Operate Business
As technology is redefining how we life personally, it is also having a massive effect on businesses. How could it not? Even more so than in our personal lives, technology and digitization of work processes has become more crucial for doing business and more impactful for bottom lines.
Here are a few examples of how business has grown infinitely more reliant on technology (and hopefully had a positive impact on business and individuals working within said businesses.
File Storage Updates For Business
Storage and filing are essential for most businesses. Ranging from contracts, purchase orders, invoices, HR files, and process documents; businesses simply have mountains of paperwork they need to store and, more importantly, maintain and keep track of.
For the bulk of this, digitization will bring solutions that are far superior to rooms full of filing cabinets. Especially searching through documents can be done more effectively, if of course the records were indexed correctly.
There are obviously some downsides to document digitization, but in most cases, the benefits outweigh the negative points. Being able to search through digital files is more comfortable, but also accessibility (even remotely) could swing businesses to make the leap.
Some documents (signed contracts for example) might still need a paper copy, but for the majority of day-to-day business documents digital should suffice. You also save the planet by printing less!
Another areas digitization can help make your business more efficient
In the same vein as filing being an administrative task, one could also look at other admin tasks that have become infinitely easier because of automation and digitization. Take time sheets, for example, this used to be an extremely labor-intensive undertaking. Important because it tracks the billable hours and therefore directly affects a business’ profitability, but a recurring weekly task that puts a major strain on businesses.
With digital timesheets, all this is done in a blink of an eye. As long as the input is done correctly, the rest of the process takes care of itself. There are even apps out there that help employees with the input itself. Watch this space as AI will be able to crunch the data from people’s diaries, alongside tracking the movement of an employee and be able to dish out near perfect timesheets the individual only has to approve.
Access your files remotely
Accessing documents remotely also touches the whole ‘remote working’ thing. With a wide range of communication methods (which includes video chat) for a significant section of businesses the need to be ‘on site’ falls away.
Nowadays it’s far easier to work remotely and in some cases more efficient. Once you reduce the amount of unnecessary traveling businesses can focus on the actual value add they are providing to their clients.
Also, there seems to a greater demand for people wanting to balance family responsibilities with work. In most cases where businesses allow remote and flex-working and pay attention to their employees not just as a cog in the business wheel, but as individuals with families and responsibilities outside work, they see higher job satisfaction, less.
How you access software for your business has changed as well
Also, ‘how things are done’ is getting challenged as well. Business critical software does not come on floppy disks and CD-ROMS anymore. Also, paying for software does not need to be the full price upfront anymore. More and more business software providers are offering their software on monthly subscription models.
The world is even moving away from installing software on your PC, nowadays a lot of services are offered as a SaaS solution, software as a service. The software is wholly run online, and all you need is to pay for access, which could even be charged based on usage and server load.
All of this is very much required as business software is getting ever complex due to the increased demands we put on this, we need to be able to deploy this software in more efficient ways.
The way we book our business travel, the way we can train employees via remote training, the way we balance the books, all of this has changed fundamentally over the last 10-15 years. Even buying office supplies is no longer done looking through a catalog and either calling or filling in an order form, it’s all done online now. Even with capital expenditure items, such as heavy machinery, businesses do not need to send procurement onto the sales lots. People right now, can browse construction equipment online and purchase it.
Embrace the change of technology to improve business efficiency
There is no denying it, the way we can do business has changed, and companies that embrace these changes find themselves working more effectively and efficiently. That’s not to say that all things need to be driven by technology and digitization.
You are not looking to go so far that the core of your business is a generic piece of technology or software. But freeing people up by using the right technology and digitization can bring about a refocusing on core values and strength of a business and therefore a better bottom line.
That’s the key, the point of technology is not to replace the human element, it’s to let the human element shine. Only get rid of those tasks that are better done by a machine.
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