| Most
businesses have a significant investment in technology.
Yet in many enterprises, the workstations are relegated
to fancy word processors and little more. To stay competitive
it is essential that today's business capitalize on
their technology infrastructure to the greatest practical
degree.
Useful technology
is supposed to make life (and work) easier. But brand
new technology often contradicts that: It costs more,
and it's not necessarily easy to use.The rapid evolution
of information technology is driving momentous change
in the way business is conducted. In today's world of
increasing competition and shrinking margins, companies
that find a way to cut costs, adapt to changing markets,
and improve efficiencies are more likely to succeed.
Successful use
of technology can make the difference between companies
thriving and jumping ahead of the competition and those
losing market share to the point of extinction.
Business processes
utilize technology, information, and human resources
to execute the business plan and accomplish strategic
goals. At times, companies do not optimally apply technology
to their operations across the enterprise because they
may not understand how their business processes integrate
with the true capability of various technologies.
Reactionary
Use of Technology
For a number of
years, many companies use of technology was only through
a reaction to another company or some outside influence
which forced a change. The simplest, most common form
has been, in most IT organizations, the creation of
a "Fire Brigade." In firefighting
mode, through help desk, trouble tickets, and the like,
the IT organization basically waits for the user to
complain before identifying problems and supplying software
or hardware to address those needs and correcting them.
Slow Adopters
of Technology
The most stagnant
of companies are those with established bureaucracies.
There are still many companies today that are very slow
in adopting technology even when such technology is
proven, practical and beneficial. Too much time is wasted
on indecision and poor management.
Good Leaders
Make Practical Choices First
It is relatively
easy to begin to move into the right direction. Good
leaders can select the most basic and practical technologies
which integrate data and e-mail systems.
The costs of constantly
"fixing" problems under time pressure is higher
than it should be in a well planned mode.
The correct way to go about all this is to bring the
IT infrastructure into a really controlled and managed
environment. To achieve this, the IT management will
have to control two key elements: user expectations
in terms of performance, and, of course, costs. This
means that, instead of blaming each other for the current
results, both parties (users and providers) agree on
a certain level of performance and costs.
How Businesses
Use Technology: Pushing the Envelope
The IT infrastructure
and the corresponding organizational structure exist
solely, in any enterprise, for the purpose of supporting
the business processes. Over the years, the advance
in technology has allowed IT to "push the envelope"
of how businesses use technology: The number of business
processes that could benefit from IT, from the simple,
objective of administrative support has grown to include
to more subjective areas such as marketing and sales.
The areas of a business process that could benefit from
IT support have expanded beyond data processing to provide
decision support information, e-business, and so on.
Getting Your Team To Agree On Your New IT Initiative:
Once your staff can agree on the mission and vision, you can focus on the details that are the key to success in carrying out the mission and achieving the vision.
The steps to take are based on both short term and middle term needs. It is a "people" process. First, seek to understand each staff members needs, ask their opinion, and weigh it in terms of the overall mission and vision. By asking your staff a series of questions, "Which is more important, having our customer service have a database that is integrated with the accounting software, or having new flat panel monitors for everyone?" they can have a front row vote for the priorities. You will get better, more timely progress in your company if everyone is involved, but a dose of wisdom is used at the end of the day.
The cost of utilizing
technology for a sophisticated eBusiness is declining
as technology improves."The eBusiness era is arriving
just as the computer age did a decade ago," says
Brian Williams, president of Computer eCommerce. |
