B2B Information Technology

Properly harnessing Information Technology in today’s economy can give your company a significant number of benefits, but only if it is implemented properly. IT can increase business process complexity as easily as it can improve business process if it’s implemented improperly.

 

Over the last decade, IT has offered up a vast array of business-enabling tools, including: websites, ecommerce, web conferencing, CRM systems, accounting systems, phone systems and other forms of communication.

 

The act of buying a piece of technology will not make any positive difference to your business. It’s what you do with the technology that determines if it will give you a significant competitive advantage. If you are purchasing a new system to mask a business management problem, you are not likely to see any return on your investment as IT should be viewed as an enabler not in itself a differentiator for your business. The key is how you implement the technology.

 

Questions to ask yourself if you are considering an IT purchase:

 

·          What are my objectives?

·          What will allow me to meet my objectives?

·          How will I know when I've got it? (measurement)

·          What steps must I take to make it happen?

·          Where do I invest at what level to manage risk?

 

Potential Benefits of IT:

 

·          Increase efficiency of internal company processes, such as customer service and accounting.

·          Improve decision making throughout the organization.

·          Increase timely communication with customers.

·          Increase accuracy of new business estimates by using comparable historical data.

·          Identifying market needs more effectively by understanding specific customer requirements.

·          Cross-selling of other products by highlighting and suggesting alternatives or enhancements.

·          Effective targeted marketing communications aimed specifically at customer needs.

·          Increased value from your existing customers and reduced cost associated with supporting and servicing them, increasing your overall efficiency and reducing total cost of sales.

 

When implementing new IT systems, be sure to follow these rules:

 

·          Make sure you put together a plan before making a purchase that outlines the benefits of the new technology. Without a written plan, your employees will not connect their performance to the technology, they will not measure the impact of the new system on performance and they will not change their behavior to make it work.

·          All of your various IT systems must “talk” to each other in an integrated, easy-to-use system. For example, your accounting software must talk to your CRM system, as well as your marketing dashboard. Without all of these systems synced, you will not have every piece of pertinent information at your fingertips.

·          Be aware of the groups in your company that are against the process/organizational redesign. If they are not addressed openly and sold on the benefits of the change, they could be the link that makes the new process/system fail.

·          Your IT system must provide fast, clear, actionable information. If your system reports information that is not already in an actionable format, it is useless in today’s fast-moving business environment.