Information Technology (IT) has important direct benefits in 21st century businesses and managers and business owners reap rewards from having the vision to appreciate the advantages IT offers. “IT” generally encompasses hardware, software, telecommunications online services and data. IT improves or at least changes the world everyday, so it is important for a business to understand how to use IT to its advantage.
Benefits of Technology in Business
Getting Your Brand Out There
The accessibility of everything from your website to your social media is particularly powerful for businesses. Businesses are able to use the internet to their advantage to get noticed and to communicate to their audience.
Getting your business in front of as many people as possible is vital in the modern day – it’s so easy to use social media to get found, so you need to make sure that you are doing it well, in order to stand out in comparison to your competitors. You can also harness techniques such as SEO services, to maximise your visibility online. Many people are investing in their online marketing in 2020, and this trend is going to continue, so make sure that you are on board!
Keeping Data Safe and Secure
As providers of global trade management and export documentation software, many of our customers have to deal with personally sensitive data subject to GDPR and commercially valuable data that must not be disclosed to third parties. Regardless of your industry, it is essential for your business to invest in technology that keeps your data and the information of your customers and partners secure.
GDPR is a hot topic at the moment, so make sure that you are up to date as much as possible and you are not missing causing any problems for yourself regarding data security.
Enhancing Productivity
Businesses are able to use IT to enhance efficiency by reducing duplication of input and providing ready access to transactional data in detail and in report summaries. The automation of commercial calculations reduces errors while centalising document storage and organisation limits mistakes that might be made by multiple people working on the same transactions.
Productivity is a factor that is essential to running a good business, if you are not working productively, then you are not working at your best, which means there is room for improvement. Room for improvement means that you are not giving the best service or product to your customers, which results in bad business. Always ensure that you are harnessing technology to improve business efficiency and productivity.
Using Software
Software can be harnessed for many uses in business, and can bring you many benefits. Software can be used to simplify processes, and it can be customised to perform in any way that you want – providing your software developers can create the function you require. Software is particularly handy when you are a business that operates globally and trades overseas – we spoke to ManSys, who provide global trade management software, who told us how their software has benefits for businesses:
ManSys provide users with IT facilities that mean companies can reduce mistakes, take on more business without growing staff numbers, win more profitable orders and comply with statutory rules around exports and international trade. Our software helps:
- Keep people informed without any manual effort (automated emails, on-screen alerts, scheduled reporting etc.)
- Present data to users to save them time for example allowing buyers to quickly see the status of orders, shipments, invoices, stock levels or prices
- Managing both incoming and outgoing correspondence so communications with customers and suppliers are not “lost” in personal emails
Technology on the move
In the modern day it’s so important to your business that you make the most of technology. This can be as simple of making the most of your smartphone, allowing you to work on the move. Smartphones are a vital piece of life now and this is no different when it comes to business – you can win business and chase leads whilst you’re on the way to a client meeting. Your smartphone allows you to be as productive as possible at all times, so you should be making the most of this.
If you are making use of your smartphone then you are always accessible to clients and potential customers, this is vital when it comes to winning business and keeping people happy. If your customers need something from you, then they are going to want it straight away, so keep your phone handy at all times and keep your emails on your phone so you can check them easily.
So, with these tips, you should be able to make the most out of IT and technology in general to maximise success in your business. Don’t forget, technology is there to be used, so use it to your advantage!
Read More: Search Engine Optimisation Methods – Increase Traffic
