It seems that almost as quickly as a company adopts new technology, it becomes outdated. New versions release the next quarter. Another product is in the wings – or has already launched – to revolutionize its part of the tech world. That’s the nature of ever-evolving tech, and our businesses have no choice but to keep up with changing technology trends.
But with tech trends coming at us so rapidly, how can our businesses and organizations possibly keep up? Business owners climb one mountain – doing the hard work of adapting staff to tech changes – only to find another bigger mountain of change on the other side.
Knowing this, it’s tempting to believe the old axiom “if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.’’ But the latest and greatest in technology is essential for any business to function efficiently and effectively in the 21st century.
So Let’s Keep Up with Changing Technology Trends So Your Business Can Thrive!
There are many risks associated with lagging behind current technology trends. Not only will your business fail to thrive as your competitors do make the leap, but you may leave your organization susceptible to cyberthreats – from malware and phishing to other covert scams in the digital realm. (And they’re not as easy to identify as you might think.)
Below are a few ways that keeping up with changing technology trends will help your business, as well as some practical proactive advice to get ahead … and stay there.
Define An IT Strategy
Don’t just “shoot from the hip” with your business IT needs. Guesswork does no good when you’re considering needs ranging from workplace productivity software to data protection and other elements of cybersecurity.
By defining an IT strategy that evaluates your technological needs and resources at your fingertips, business owners can develop a better roadmap to running more efficiently and effectively. (And this segues nicely to the next step.)
Managed IT Services
The next logical step in your IT strategy would be to assess whether you need managed IT services to tackle the sheer volume of work required. With managed IT, a third-party firm with expertise and experience in all elements of information technology rolls up its sleeves for you. Services may include:
– Cloud-based support
– Round-the-clock remote monitoring
– Data protection
– Data recovery
– Virtual machine management
– Server maintenance
– Digital collaboration tools
– & More
Technology is an unavoidable and critical part of any business. Many companies, however, don’t have the time, desire or expertise required to allocate resources to evolve with changing technology trends and implementing new technologies as they emerge.
Streamline Operations
New technologies are developed, almost daily, that bring efficiency and expediency to business systems. Tasks that were once demanding can now be easily streamlined or even automated using the right platforms. There are digital services and software that are EXTREMELY HELPFUL in virtually limitless areas including (but not limited to):
– Customer relationship management (CRM)
– Point-of-Sale (PoS) systems
– E-commerce site automation
– Digital marketing keyword research
– Accounting systems
– & even artificial intelligence (AI)
So stay updated and informed on changing technologies and tech trends. There’s always something out there that can dramatically cut time and resources spent on both vital and mundane tasks.
Automate Software Updates
In the same spirit as streamlining, automating software updates for your devices and business systems can save so much time now – and prevent costly damage, crashes, data losses AND WORSE later. Many programs update automatically or will send you reminders to update your software manually. Some software options, however, will never notify you when it is time for an upgrade, even when upgrades are available.
As a part of your IT strategy, determine the best way for your business to automate – or at the very least keep up with – these updates to ensure you’re not falling behind and using outdated resources.
Improve Customer Service
We’ve said several times now that it’s imperative that your business systems run as efficiently and as quickly as possible. And this goes for customer service, as well. Whether your customers are interacting with your payment system or visiting your website, they want a seamless experience that will get them what they are looking for without any difficulties. (Helpful hint: even waiting a few seconds for your website to load will cause potential customers to click away and look elsewhere.)
By staying current with changing technology trends that impact a customer’s interaction with your business, you’ll improve the customer experience and make them more likely to buy from you in the future. You’ll likely even create brand ambassadors in the process.
Stay Ahead of the Competition
If you’re not keeping up with the ever-evolving tech world, it’s safe to assume your competitors are. Staying current with technology will allow your business to adapt to changing consumer demands and expectations, giving you the upper hand over competitors. Keeping up with these trends will increase your relevancy and customer appeal, which can show your business in the brightest light.
Consider the alternative: if you’re not keeping up, you would be unaware change is needed at all, while your competitors run away with all YOUR customers.
Increase Savings
Dated technology breaks down more easily and often. That’s expensive. Forced upgrades because you failed to do the incremental upgrades along the way? You guessed it: really expensive!
While upgrading to new systems will cost money up-front, look at it as a business investment. It’ll save you money on yet-unknown repair and maintenance costs.
Plan Ahead for Changing Technology Trends at Your Business
This is a lot to digest. But it’s critical to think and behave this way in the 21st century digital world. Use these changing technology trends to your advantage. Plan ahead. If your business uses tech correctly, you can streamline operations and free enough time to focus on your number one goal of growing the business. Heck, you can use tech to assist or automate parts of the planning process itself.
Don’t be reactive. Regularly sit down with your IT team to analyze upcoming technologies and assess whether they fit within your IT strategy. If you need help, call Acme Business at (716) 372-1325 or visit our website for expert guidance on keeping up to date. You can connect with us on LinkedIn, too!
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