By understanding and embracing technology, you can get an edge over the competition.
The marketplace for businesses of all sizes is a constantly-changing landscape, especially when it comes to technology. Business leaders must stay on top of these changing trends in order to stay one step ahead of the competition.
Business leaders are often focused on the numbers behind the scenes, maintaining current customers, and searching out new ones. As a result, technology is often overlooked in the daily grind. This happens for many reasons. It may be a fear of the unknown, or perhaps a lack of interest in technology, but businesses must stay ahead with their technology to increase revenues and ultimately grow their client base. To ensure a successful business, leaders should be up-to-date and informed on the following technology items:
- Hardware and software inventory. Too often, businesses don’t have a grasp on what they have or where it resides. Maintaining a spreadsheet or database of these items is crucial if there is ever a fire, theft or hardware failure. An inventory list can be a valuable asset when the need to quickly replace hardware or software arises. While many business owners know they can’t do without a certain computer or server in their office, they may not know what software it is running or who to contact if it needs to be replaced. At minimum, a good inventory should contain the following information: manufacturer, serial number, date purchased, warranty length/expiration and location.
- Policies and procedures. Businesses should have and maintain a technology use policy. This type of policy or manual can be critical to ensure that users are not misusing the technology provided to them. In the event that someone should be held responsible for damage or misuse, having a policy in place is key. Having your employees sign a document stating that they have received and read your policies about the use of technology makes it clear that they know what is expected of them and helps to eliminate potential misunderstandings.
- Disaster recovery. If you had a hardware failure, would you be able to get your business back up and running as quickly as possible? Are you absolutely sure? What if there was a fire or theft? Often, one of the most valuable assets of a business is the data that is stored on computers or servers. Automated online/offsite backup has become a very popular means to ensure that business records are fully recoverable in these situations. It can notify you if the backup was successful and is already stored offsite. Having a system in place to get your backups moved offsite is important. Whatever the backup solution, you should be sure that your data is stored in a safe place that can be accessed in the event that it needs to be.
- Software resources. There are many resources available in the form of software to help a business run more smoothly and be more productive. Finding the right software package and having your employees record sales and service-related information in a database will help you maintain better customer relationships. By recording data such as customer or prospect contact information, you will have records to return to if an employee exits the company or is out on an extended leave. Software can capture the last time your employee spoke with the customer and what they may have discussed. This way, you are not in the dark about the relationship. Your customers will appreciate this, which will in turn lead to more business.
Information technology processes are critical components of today’s emerging businesses. Showing both your customers and your employees that you embrace and understand technology and the benefits it can provide can give you an immediate edge over your competition. iBi
Scott Frey is the owner and president of Momentum Technologies, LLC. He can be reached at [email protected].
