Information technology in the business environment
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is an excellent business management tool that helps positively for the development and viability of organizations. ICTs add value to operational activities and business management in general and allow companies to obtain competitive advantages, stay in the market and focus on their business.
Information technologies and communications are a part of emerging technologies that refer to the use of computerized means to store, process and disseminate all types of information in the different units or departments of any organization.
Using ICTs efficiently can obtain competitive advantages, but it is necessary to find successful procedures to maintain such advantages as a constant, as well as to have courses and alternative resources to adapt them to the needs of the moment, since the advantages are not always permanent.
ICTs represent an important tool in business, however, implementing an information system does not guarantee that it will obtain results automatically or in the long term.
In the implementation of an information system many factors intervene, one of the main being the human factor. It is foreseeable that in a situation of change, the staff will be reluctant to adopt the new procedures or that they will fully develop them and according to the guidelines established.
For this reason it is necessary to make a strategic planning taking into account the present and future needs of the company. As well as a preliminary investigation and feasibility study of the project we want.
Information Technology advantages in the organization
ICTs are essential to improve the productivity of companies, quality, and control and facilitate communication, among other benefits, although their application must be carried out intelligently.
The mere fact of introducing technology in business processes is not a guarantee of enjoying these advantages. For the implementation of new technology to produce positive effects, it is necessary to fulfill several requirements: to have a thorough knowledge of the company’s processes, to plan in detail the needs of information technology and to incorporate technological systems gradually, starting with the most basic ones.
Before adding a technological component, you have to know the organization and / or company well. It has been discovered that 90% of the time, the failure is not due to software or systems, but to the fact that people do not have enough knowledge about their own company or their business processes.
Another important aspect to consider is that companies that have a great capacity to benefit from technology are organizations that, before adding a technological component, describe in detail what will be the impact for your company.
Information and Communication Technologies have transformed the way we work and manage resources. ICT is a key element to make our work more productive: streamlining communications, supporting teamwork, managing stocks, performing financial analysis, and promoting our products in the market. The good use of ICT allows companies to produce more quantity, faster, better quality, and in less time and help competitiveness.
A 360 DEGREE CHANGE
The digital revolution has arrived and will splash all sectors, without exception. But this transformation requires much more than isolated R & D projects or an annual budget for the development of new businesses: it involves fundamental changes in the strategy, culture and operations of organizations. The world has changed, and it is still going to do much more.
In short, it is no longer a matter of conceiving the technological environment as separate environments, but rather of integrating digitalization throughout the company, with a threefold objective:
1) Improve processes and increase efficiency.
2) Build a relationship of trust with customers.
3) Find new business opportunities.
YOU HAVE TO BE MORE AGILE, FASTER
Another major difficulty for digitalization to take root in the company as a whole lies in the rapidity with which new technologies evolve and, with them, the expectations of customers.
In this context, start-ups are the biggest threat of slow and analog businesses. Although 80% of start-ups do not exceed the first year of life, those few that manage to become a unicorn (valued at more than 1,000 million dollars) revolutionize the market. WhatsApp is a good example of how a single app is capable of jeopardizing the business model of the world’s largest telecommunications operators.
RESPECT THE PRIVACY OF USERS
Inevitably, collecting and operating with the personal data of customers creates risks in terms of privacy, one of our Fundamental Rights.
In this regard, the society in the Digital Age has been polarized into two large groups: a part (especially the youngest ones) is willing to share information such as their email, their tastes or their location, if they perceive any kind of compensation. (A personalized service, discounts or others); and the other one is suspicious of the big technology companies.
TOWARDS A NEW MARKETING
New technologies have not only made customers more demanding in terms of immediacy, but also in relation to brands. Social networks have promoted and accelerated a cultural change, by which users do not seek to speak with a machine or with an ethereal entity, but with the people behind it. Communication is also, in many cases, bidirectional. The attention to the client, the publicity and, in short, all the marketing becomes more human.
THINK GLOBAL
The world is global, and each time it will be more. Currently, only 3,000 million people have access to the Internet. In a term of five years, another 4,000 million, coming mainly from the Third World, will access the network of networks. The companies that aspire to be leaders must take the whole world as a potential market, adapting their offer and service to the characteristics of each country.
Only those businesses with a differential value proposition will succeed. A differentiation that in some cases will be based on the price and in many others, in the specialization. “The myth that emerging countries can only compete in costs and not in innovation has already been overcome”.
Last Verdict:
Competing in a business sector need advancements in technology. As the time passes, things are evolving and as a business owner, or a business advisor, you should keep the new trends in mind in order to design a strategy that can hold your business as much longer as you want it to be.
The image is purchased from shutterstock of metamorworks
1 Comment