The need to enhance competitiveness is more crucial than ever, with the increase in R&D, the opening up of global markets, and the constant mergers and acquisitions swirling around the business sector.
As a general, overall term, competitiveness is taken to mean the ability to challenge rivals’ products and services in some way. It could mean that you offer a lower price, or your product/service has additional extras added, or even the strategy you employ in marketing. Competitiveness is often determined by the attributes that make your product/service unique, but now researchers are finding that the quickest path to increasing corporate competitiveness is sound investments in IT.
The internet is an accelerant of competition because of all the processes that are being digitised. The consequence of this is that organisations can propagate their processes with greater fidelity and quickly outstrip their competitors who lag behind.
It comes as no surprise that the internet is central to this idea. It offers many tools to help small to medium businesses achieve competitiveness with their larger rivals, especially with the advent of the Cloud, the mobility it brings, and the promotion of online collaboration (click here to see our blog post on the advantages and disadvantages of the Cloud).
Research conducted by the international business school, INSEAD, shows that in the future there is expected to be an 82% growth in mobility, a 150% growth in Cloud usage, and a 44% growth in collaboration tools.
However, you cannot simply invest in new technology and then rest on your laurels in satisfaction; this alone will not lead to successful sustainable competitiveness. It is very important to establish a strong foundation with proper support from business resources, first, in order to take full advantage of your investments in IT.
Strong business resources coupled with sound investments in new technology will lead to increased competitiveness, whereas weak business resources lead to a greater risk of foundering.
First of all, you need to take a good look at what your business offers and how it operates, and identify how technology can affect performance, both for good and for bad. This is so you can build a picture of how technology can impact your return on investment, to give you some idea of what to invest in. After all, you don’t want to pay for something if it’s not going to increase profit or decrease costs.
Second, it’s necessary to take some time to thoroughly map out how you plan to use the technology in your everyday business environment. Who will have access? Who needs it most? How will this affect other areas?
Once you have these ideas down and plans in place, investing in IT becomes safer, with a higher rate of success.
Small to medium businesses in New Zealand are lucky in that they have practically the same opportunities to invest in the latest and greatest IT technology as large companies with deep pockets. However, sometimes it can be confusing as to which direction you should go. There are so many options out there, so how do you choose the best one for your business? This is where Result IT steps in.
We work with many small to medium businesses in New Zealand to help them achieve a sustainable and cutting-edge IT infrastructure, as well as providing customised solutions tailored to individual businesses, and technical support. We will build a plan especially for you and help you put it in place, so that you can get cracking on outstripping your competitors, today!
Give us a call on (09) 526 1800, pop into our office (67 Station Rd East, Penrose), or drop us an email at info@resultit.co.nz to find out what we can do for you.
