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5 Ways to Future-Proof Your Business With Technology

The way we work has significantly changed in the past decade due to workplace trends and technology advancements. Most would agree that the most significant changes occurred in 2020 when the COVID-19 crisis brought about years of change in the way companies in all sectors and regions do business. Employers were caught off guard by the pandemic and scrambled to shift their workforce efficiently to a remote environment.

COVID-19 presented an opportunity – and a need – for many companies to build digital competencies. According to McKinsey Global, the impacts of the global crisis on businesses have led executives to recognize the strategic importance of technology as a critical component of an organization, and not just a source of cost efficiencies. 

Many employers are looking at digital transformation to future-proof their businesses. They are implementing technologies to make their organizations agile, so when unforeseen changes occur in the future, the business will be ready to adapt. 

Here are 5 ways to future-proof your business using modern technology:

1. Go paperless

Moving from hard copies to digital ones enables your employees to easily access everything at their fingertips. With a remote workforce, digital collaboration tools make it easier to conduct teamwork, plan and transfer information faster. Paperless accounting is huge and allows companies to send and receive invoices, payments, and handle general accounting functions without the risk of losing, misfiling, or mislabeling financial paperwork. Going paperless puts all of your content online, instead of having the bulk of documents in your workplace.  Plus, it’s good for the environment.

2. Reimagine the day-to-day work process

Nothing compares to having work processes that save time and increase efficiency. Business functions like onboarding new employees or resolving everyday customer-service issues are made up of hundreds of smaller processes, such as opening a service ticket or submitting a laptop request for approval. By identifying which existing processes would benefit from a digital overhaul, your employees will have an easier time keeping track of things and working more efficiently.

3. Leverage automation

Running a business in today’s competitive world requires gaining an advantage and operating efficiently. To support your growing business and unique process, businesses need the ability to integrate and automate critical applications whether they’re in the cloud, on-premise, or on-device. By leveraging an integration platform – such as Claris Connect – businesses can orchestrate tasks and create highly efficient, streamlined workflows. 

4. Invest in customized software for scalability

According to research by Accenture, one of the main reasons digital initiatives don’t succeed is that they don’t scale adequately beyond initial pilot projects. It’s important to plan how the technology you use will grow with your business. Customized software solutions can scale to account for the current and future requirements of your company.

5. Make cybersecurity a priority

The threat of cyber attacks against modern businesses is increasingly relevant both inside and outside of the office. Particularly in today’s work-from-home environment, employees are working in a variety of unsecured locations, presenting business-sensitive data to a plethora of potential cyber threats. Cybersecurity strategies should include antivirus, encryption, software updates, and vulnerability scanning on mobile devices as well as mobile-specific security awareness training for relevant employees. 

 

Even when you know future-proofing your business is essential, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the options offered on the market or get caught up in pursuing “the next big thing,” Before investing in or upgrading your business technology, it’s helpful to assess your current operations and identify the needs that most impact your organization.

FUSION OF IDEAS’ Solutions Mapping Services does just that. Whether you have a full technology plan but need help refining the strategy, or you need step-by-step guidance on how to begin your digital transformation journey, we can help. For a free initial consultation, contact us at 949.453.0740.

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Roadblocks to Digital Transformation

Despite the prevalence of digital businesses today, companies are still challenged with manual processes that result in slow performance and high costs. While it may seem like a simple solution to digitize those processes, the reality is that the effort is sometimes ladened with internal and external roadblocks. 

Roadblock #1 – IT departments are overburdened

Technology is always changing, and IT departments are expected to keep up with these changes. IT teams deal with requests from customers and employees and have to handle the infrastructure of the business as well. Most executives would agree that their company’s IT teams are overburdened.

As a result, employees may avoid submitting requests to IT when they need digital solutions and try to find solutions on their own. What employees don’t realize are the security risks when they use external software that is not secured by IT, potentially putting the company’s data or the employees’ confidential information at risk.

Source: Giving Up on Digitalization Initiatives, TrackVia
Source: Giving Up on Digitalization Initiatives, TrackVia

Roadblock #2 – Off-the-shelf solutions don’t close the gap

When trying to improve workflow, businesses may turn to off-the-shelf software for a solution. According to a survey by TrackVia, 26 percent of respondents who purchased off-the-shelf software cited several sacrifices they had to make. Besides the biggest disappointment with a lack of customization to meet the business’ unique needs, there are many other compromises that come with off-the-shelf solutions.

Source: Giving Up on Digitalization Initiatives, TrackVia
Source: Giving Up on Digitalization Initiatives, TrackVia

Roadblock #3 – Inflexibility of legacy systems

Another common challenge in a digital transformation is the company’s legacy system itself. An IBM study estimated that more than 80 percent of the world’s enterprise data still resides on mainframe systems, which is a technology that is now over 50 years old. Businesses fear using new applications or software because they cannot be implemented into existing systems or will result in high operational maintenance costs.

Source: Giving Up on Digitalization Initiatives, TrackVia
Source: Giving Up on Digitalization Initiatives, TrackVia

Where do you go from here?

The road to digital transformation requires finding the right solution for your business to improve manual processes while meeting company security requirements and fitting into existing IT system. As mentioned here, off-the-shelf software may not solve all of the company’s needs as every business is unique. A custom business software is a solution that can address a company’s specific needs and relieve it from security and integration risks.

The most telling benefit of custom software is the ability to integrate into legacy systems. If you have an open application program interface (API) or can provide documentation to connect to API, it is possible to seamlessly integrate with your existing IT system. The benefit of building a custom solution from the ground up is one that can significantly pave the way to digital transformation.