Many of us use the New Year as an opportunity to take stock, and to set ourselves goals for improvement, in business as well as our personal lives. Such review and target-setting has positive results, so why not do the same for your business IT with a consultancy review?
Evolving IT: be responsive to change
Many organisations regard a modest profit as evidence that their existing processes are perfectly adequate, both now and for the future. But technology is bringing change to every industry, with start-ups taking market-share from more established competitors simply because they are better able to nimbly change their own operations.
For instance: the ride-hailing service Uber has revolutionised the taxi industry, using smartphone technology to streamline the process for users and drivers. Customers may benefit from a cheaper, more flexible service, but this comes at the expense of incumbent taxi firms.
Avoid becoming a victim of one of these new disruptive businesses by regularly assessing your own processes, focusing on how technology can be used to streamline and improve them. Remember to think about flexibility for the future, including your own business expansion.
Carrying out an IT consultancy review
The New Year is an ideal opportunity to reassess your current processes, particularly how they measure up against your growth plans, and the changes you forecast in your market. Your audit must answer two key questions:
1. Can we improve efficiency using our existing systems?
There is a very good chance that your existing IT infrastructure can ‘do’ a lot more than it is already. Whether that is through training staff to use more of the available functionality, or linking systems to simplify data sharing and availability, there is almost certainly something you can do to improve operations without additional capital expenditure.
Having an IT audit carried out by expert consultants, like our team at Broadband Cloud Solutions, means that any observations are fresh, and free of the familiarity that can cloud judgements. You also benefit from the professional IT experience gained from working with other businesses across a range of industries, providing you with best practice observations that can offer you a competitive advantage.
2. How can we invest in IT to build for the future?
Technology continues to evolve at a frightening pace, but each development brings with it opportunities for early adopters. As well as creating new efficiencies that streamline operations, technology can provide the framework for a complete transformation of operations that maximise profits and deliver a better service to your customers.
Again, using an industry-specialist third-party service to carry out such an audit is vital – it will save huge research and training man-hours for your company. Our team work constantly to keep up with cutting-edge technology, and our extensive experience means we know how it can be applied to your business for maximum benefit.
To ensure that 2016 is as profitable as possible, why not arrange an IT consultancy review? It could help ensure that next year is your best business year yet!
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