Why can technology relaunch your business?
The connection with the customer is the fundamental element that every company must achieve. Thanks to technology, this factor is becoming increasingly easier to achieve. The digital era has arrived to revolutionize all sectors, including business.
Digital transformation has become a necessity for businesses if they want to continue growing. Companies with traditional models must adapt to new technologies if they want to survive in an increasingly competitive market.
Due to the covid-19 pandemic, companies have experienced a huge digital transformation. This healthcare crisis has resulted in a revolution in the industry. There are many technologies that help companies to re-launch their business and enter the digital world.
- Internet of things
This concept is based on the intelligence and independence of objects, i.e. everyday objects that surround us in our daily lives are connected to each other to improve the user experience. For example with personalized messages.
- Blockchain
Large data structures that are grouped into blocks. One of the best known structures are cryptocurrencies. Thanks to this innovation, companies can implement a new payment method.
- Big data
Thanks to Big Data, companies can make decisions based on data. This type of information can be used by the business to create patterns and profiles of its consumers.
- Cloud computing
This system is used by many companies as it allows teamwork with shared information. Speed, security and low cost are some of the advantages you can benefit from.
- Artificial intelligence
Voice recognition, machine learning or biometric applications are just some of the applications of artificial intelligence. Companies continue to innovate and look for ways to apply artificial intelligence to their businesses and products.
- Virtual reality
The recreation of scenes and scenarios is becoming more and more common and applicable to the business world. User experience is one of the key points that benefit from this factor.
- Cybersecurity
The most important global data is on the network, as well as the data of companies of all kinds. It is necessary to protect this information from multiple threats.
In the period between 2019 and 2021 this type of technology has undergone a remarkable increase as we can see in the graph. The adoption and adaptation of technologies to the company is developing more and more, resulting in more than 95% in internet of things or cloud computing.
Advantages of investing in technology
Technology, as you can see, is increasingly important if you want your business to work. But in addition to being indispensable, it has great advantages that will make you decide to jump on the technological innovation bandwagon.
- Employee training.
Technological education is essential for your employees, so you can help your employees to improve and with them, the progress of your company.
- Employee experience.
Once your professionals have the necessary knowledge to implement technological applications, they will gain in quality, flexibility and mental health, which will result in a workplace with a good atmosphere among colleagues.
- Customer experience.
This is one of the great advantages since technology provides positive elements to the user experience. This factor is one of the most beneficial.
- Access to innovative technology.
Technological applications provide facilities to companies and companies that are not yet in the market.
- Importance of data and security.
Data is the gold of the 21st century; therefore, it is very important for companies to update the security of the devices on which the information is stored.
Phases for digital transformation
If you want to revolutionize your company through digital transformation, do not hesitate to follow the steps below:
Step 1 – Manage the transformation.
Employees must be aware of the change that the company will undergo. In addition, it may be necessary to hire external companies or workers to help us with this transformation. Companies with expertise in technology or with experience in making digital transformations can be a relief when making this change.
Step 2 – Define the strategy.
Marketing automation will be essential in this step as it will help us automate projects or tasks and focus on more important elements to put in place. This means that we will have more time to analyze what will be the objectives to be met and the strategy that will mark the entire business year.
Step 3 – Integrate technology.
To finish with the implementation of digital transformation it is important that all areas are connected and in this way, the combination of these will lead to the long-awaited digital transformation.
How to grow thanks to technology?
It is clear that companies that are committed to technological innovation are the ones that experience the most growth, but how do we implement this project? According to a study conducted by Accenture, these are the steps you should follow. To do so, you must take into account three areas:
- Platform: How?
You can implement technological systems such as cloud or artificial intelligence.
- Why?
This type of technology makes the difference with the rest of the business competitors.
- Where to start?
The first thing you should do to use this platform is to migrate all your information to it. This way, it will be much easier for you to start working.
- Approach: How?
We must encourage innovation first and foremost.
- Why?
If the innovation budget is only used to maintain the resources we already have, we will not experience any growth.
- Where to start?
Look for investments that are appropriate to our company.
- Scope: How?
Drive technology in all departments of your company.
- Why?
To do so, you can train your professionals in the technological field and in the long term you will see enormous benefits.
- Where to start?
Use technology to grow both your company and your product.
Advantages and disadvantages of digital transformation
As we have seen, digital transformation can help you grow and create a modern and innovative company. Below, we explain the advantages of digital transformation in your business:
- Digital presence.
- The customer, the epicenter of the company.
- Communication through different channels.
- Better decision making thanks to information.
- Improved productivity.
- Improved innovation.
- Improved working conditions.
But, as everything in life has its downside, we also show you the disadvantages that digital transformation can bring to your company:
- Investment.
- It has no end.
- Curiosity of professionals to learn about new technologies.
- Resistance to change by workers.
- Lack of motivation.
- Lack of innovation.
Essential technological tools for your company
Task manager
Thanks to this type of tool it will be easier to organize the departments of your company and even, within the company, each one will register the tasks to be done, the ones that have been done and the ones that are being done. This way, you can know what each worker is doing.
It is very useful to keep track of your business. Some of these tools are: Trello, Evernote, Hubspot, Asana or Clockify.
CRM customer management
This program allows the management of customer relationships. As we detailed in a HelloMrLead article about CRM it is a very useful tool that will help you avoid tedious tasks and optimize time. Some of them are: Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics CRM or PipeDrive.
HR Management
Factorial is one of the best applications for human resources management. Thanks to it you can see which days each employee has worked, how many hours and even who is on vacation.
Communication between employees
With the pandemic, telematic communication is increasingly necessary, many employees work from home so one of the best applications for this is Slack.
Thanks to this tool you can communicate with all employees of the company, make phone calls and even create groups of departments to communicate with each other. Zoom or Google Meet can also be an excellent option for daily meetings.
Invoicing and company administration
For the economic management of the company you also have several tools that will make your work easier. Some that can help you are: Facturascloud, FacturaDirecta, BitFactura or Quipu.
Social network management
Nowadays social networks are one of the most important areas of the company, so it is important to have a presence on the web. For this, there are some programs that will help you upload content such as: Metricool, Tweetdeck or Hootsuite.
Technological trends for 2022
Annual trends change every year, but the customer remains the epicenter of every business strategy. According to a report by IDC and Liferay Inc. there will be four major trends that will shape enterprise 2022:
- Autonomy
Most companies already have technology that gives customers the ability to solve their problems with a virtual assistant or conduct business online without the need for humans.
- Hyper-personalization.
Personalization has been the order of the day in recent years, but this is no longer enough. It is now necessary to anticipate customer needs. The main goal of business is to attract, highlight a product and retain the customer to make a purchase.
- Omnichannel engagement.
The existence of the personal environment is necessary as well as the virtual environment, so they must connect and offer all possibilities to the consumer. There are still customers who are reluctant to digital interaction so the company must also offer this possibility.
As well as this option, young people prefer to use computers because of their speed. Therein lies the need to coexist between the two options.
- Data, the king of the company.
As we have explained above, Big Data is one of the technologies with the greatest future projection, since information is power. Once the company has a thorough knowledge of its public, it knows what to offer them and what their needs are.
Digitalisation in Spain
According to the latest Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) report conducted by the European Commission in 2020, Spain has climbed 3 places this last year. It is currently ranked number 9 and in 2019 it was ranked 11.
Spain, in recent years, has been moving up in the ranking which reflects that ambition of the country to be among the top positions. It stands out above all in connectivity as it is in third place. On the other hand, human preparation is conspicuous by its absence, as only 3.8% of professionals are considered ICT specialists.
The use of cloud computing, Big Data management or artificial intelligence are in the minority in most companies.
DESI places companies below the European average in terms of the use of eCommerce. 10% of Spanish companies have an online channel compared to 12% of the European average.
The most digitized companies belong to the information and communication sector, in second place we find the hotel sector and finally travel agencies. They have implemented innovative areas such as Big Data or information analysis of social media.
Both SMEs and large and medium-sized companies enable workers to have a device with Internet access for business use. Another factor that is implemented in companies is the Internet of Things (IoT) as it is not linked to a specific sector but adapts to most of them.
Change in companies in recent years
As we have seen, digitalization is increasingly necessary if we want our company to be at the same level as the competition. Spain has a high percentage of digitization, but it is not at the same level as European companies.
This is a difficult transformation to make if your company does not have any digitalization, but it is worth it if you want to grow in your sector and position yourself as one of the most innovative businesses with respect to the competition.
2019 marked a before and after in the business world. There is an increasing need for tools that communicate with workers; that automate easy-to-do tasks or have found in the internet an ally to grow.
For all these reasons, if your company does not yet have the necessary digitalization, do not hesitate any longer and grow at the level at which technology develops. There are multiple ways to take the step and implement technology in your business.
If you are an SME that has not yet digitized your company, get going and take the first steps towards the technology that will change your life. If, on the other hand, you are a medium or large company and already have the necessary technology, bet on innovation and you will see the positive results you get, positioning yourself in the market as one of the best businesses among the competition.
