Technology eases, simplifies, and speeds up daily business operations, from marketing and recruitment to record-keeping and data collection. Its role in industries is so vital that it is impossible to imagine the modern workplace without it. Technology is no longer an accessory but a necessity for maintaining communication, improving management, increasing productivity, strengthening security, and keeping up with globalization. Companies understand this, and for this reason, IT expenditure is steadily growing as more and more establishments invest in various strategic technological trends each year.  

3 Ways Technology Can Enhance Your Business

Global IT spending may amount to $3.8 trillion in 2021, according to Gartner, Inc. The report forecasts enterprise software such as human resource management, customer support, and email marketing to incur the highest growth (7.2 percent). The increase is due to the rising demand for remote work setup, distance learning, and telehealth services in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Investment in data center systems comes in second, with an expected growth of 6 percent.

Regardless of a company’s size, structure, or nature, technology is a tool that has revolutionized the way an establishment does things. Yet, the question remains: are you properly utilizing it to optimize the advantages? Are you fully reaping its benefits? Do you know in what ways it can impact the growth of your company? Let us take a look at the three ways technology can enhance your business.

Automation 

Whether it’s preparing payroll, replying to customers’ generic inquiries, or sending out marketing emails, automation is the future of many businesses. And the trend is not going away anytime soon.  It will merely become more complicated and sophisticated.  

But what is automation? At its core, automation is using software to do repetitive, time-consuming, and menial tasks, replacing the need for human labor. A few decades ago, automation covered almost exclusively robotics or machine work in manufacturing plants. With the advancement of technology, businesses of all sizes can now use various pre-set systems to perform manual tasks, particularly in human resources, finance, marketing, and customer service.

How does automation enhance your business?  With automation, you can streamline your customer care channels, track consumers’ online buying patterns, personalize marketing emails, verify email addresses in bulk, and collect data to identify future trends. Businesses that use automation and controls engineering expertise often see improvement in workflow efficiency, increase in productivity, and reduction in operational costs.  

Furthermore, automation lightens the workload and hastens processes without sacrificing quality and consistency. Take, for instance, making a manual business purchase.  Imagine the paperwork and forms that could quickly pile up or get lost from being passed around. Compare this with setting the system to submit orders electronically.  Not only will you save time.  You also reduce the likelihood of committing errors.

Lastly, automation makes data easier to store and track. You are not only able to retrieve essential information with a few clicks but also able to analyze it in real-time.  This capability allows you to stay on top of the competition and sustain business growth.

Cloud Networking 

To the uninitiated, cloud networking sounds like something techies invented to confuse people. But what is cloud networking, and how does it shape your business? Technically speaking, the term cloud is a fancy word for the internet.  In simplest terms, cloud networking gives you access to various services and resources hosted in a public, private, or hybrid cloud.  These include bandwidth, firewalls, management software, and virtual routers. 

A third-party service provider owns and operates public clouds.  These are available to any company that wishes to buy or lease them. Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Amazon Web Services are some of the most popular cloud service providers.  Private clouds are for the exclusive use of an enterprise, with systems usually set on the business’ data center. Hybrid clouds are a combination of both public and private clouds. With a hybrid cloud service, you can exercise direct control similar to that of a private cloud while enjoying the speed and versatility of a public cloud.

How does a cloud-based network benefit your company?  Cloud networking lets you create a centralized management system, enabling users from different locations to access and retrieve files, documents, and information from anywhere in the world at any time and from any device. It enhances communication and collaboration in your team as well as boosts information sharing.

Cloud networking provides your business with flexibility and scalability.  Cloud servers feature nearly unlimited bandwidth and storage space to accommodate your company’s increasing needs and handle website traffic as your business grows. In case of a disaster or downtime, you can rely on fast and efficient data backups and recovery, ensuring business continuity. More importantly, cloud-based services are much cheaper than setting up in-house storage equipment and maintaining software updates.  You end up saving money while operating more efficiently.

Bespoke Software 

You might have heard of off-the-shelf software sold on the mass market. This pre-packaged, general-purpose software provides a mishmash of features and applications intended for different companies. 

But the problem with a one size fits all solution is businesses have different needs.  With commercial software, you could get features you cannot use or, worse, lack the tools your company requires.  Indeed, not all software systems are created equal.  But in the clash of software solutions, bespoke software wins any time.

As the name itself implies, bespoke software refers to customized solutions that specifically target your business needs.  Compared to ready-made products, custom software has a higher initial cost and takes longer to develop.  But because it is tailor-made according to your specifications, it can easily and quickly be integrated into your system.  Additionally, users are most likely already familiar with how it functions, so there is a lesser need for training. On the other hand, pre-packaged software is cheaper and readily available. However, it can take longer to implement, requires extensive training for new users, and cost extra, particularly if you are needing electronics recruitment in order to maintain your embedded systems and software.

However, the real benefit of bespoke software is you can design it to perform tasks that competitors’ systems lack.  This uniqueness makes your company stand out and gives it a competitive advantage over other businesses.