What’s your goal as a business owner? To sell your greatest asset? Whether growing the business, or building an exit strategy for the day you will sell, you need to ensure the asset is a valuable one.
Intellectual property (IP) should be stored on systems and easily accessible for sustainability. Operating capacity should be as efficient as possible – in short, it must run like clockwork. Of course, it must also be protected – that’s not an option with the ever-present threat of cyber breaches.
The important thing to understand is that the company shouldn’t have to achieve all this by investing in more resources and expending CAPEX. Expert managed services can ensure the business is primed for growth or handover − running efficiently with predictable infrastructure costs.
If you are still not convinced that the ‘right’ technology correctly implemented will not only serve to put the business ahead of the competition and enable it to achieve maximum growth and resale value, look at the wealth of global research that backs this up.
For example, the World Economic Forum (WEF) highlights digitalisation as instrumental for small and medium enterprise (SME) growth. SMEs play a vital role in the global economy, contributing up to 70% to employment and GDP. However, 67% of SMEs and mid-sized businesses are fighting for survival.
SMEs face intense short-term business pressures, limited expertise and resource constraints, which hinder technology adoption.
This is partly because SMEs face intense short-term business pressures, limited expertise and resource constraints, which hinder technology adoption.
The WEF emphasises that access and readiness for emerging technologies requires overcoming digital challenges, bucking the trend towards low tech adoption and mitigating talent gaps.
Moreover, it says that embracing technology will help SMEs to lower barriers to new market entry and gain productivity plus efficiency. It notes that over 85% of organisations are reported to recognise that increased adoption of new technologies, coupled with an expansion of digital access, are key drivers of transformation, with digital infrastructure being identified as significant for long-term financial growth for SMEs.
Staying up-to-date with these trends is said to be crucial for SMEs wishing to remain competitive in the evolving digital landscape.
Investments in digitisation can enable SMEs to gain valuable insights from data, increase the efficiency of operations, make cost savings, improve competitiveness and create greater opportunities for scalability.
What is the ‘right’ technology?
What SMEs must aim for are predictable and seamless business systems that enable growth, such as CRM, ERP, finance, ICT and data solutions. I’m sure you’ve heard all of this before but there’s more to it than plug-in and you will be able to play a different, more competitive business game.
Yes, good technology must just work! Surely that’s a given – a taken for granted outcome? Not necessarily, is the correct answer.
Technology working versus technology actually making a positive difference to competitiveness in the market, solving specific business problems and adding value to the sustainability and saleability of the enterprise are entirely different matters.
SMEs need to find an IT partner that will take the time to do a deep dive into the business, its problems, barriers to competitive-edge, IP and protection of it for sustainability. The ultimate goal must be to enhance the value of the company.
Box-dropper IT partners cannot devise a technology solution that delivers the exact outcomes the business needs without time and in-depth analysis of the company. Nor can they come up with the ‘right’ match of systems, automation and integrations that specifically aim to help the SME achieve its goals and put it ahead of the competition.
SMEs need to seek a partner that works through a technology risk and return on investment framework. This will ensure the most appropriate technology is deployed to address the organisation’s pain points and goals, and unleash its true value.
Another issue to consider is that managed service guarantees, boosted by a no contract lock-in model, will serve to provide complete peace of mind for most SMEs. These companies should be aiming for IT that’s more streamlined, efficient and cost-effective – only in this way will the SME shoot to the front of a crowded peloton.
Business valuations and exit strategies are complex and require careful planning and strong team management. This can only be done by aligning technology with business objectives.
Simply put, the SME’s IT partner must do the job that needs to get done, build the value and reputation of the business and make it the most enviable purchase proposition for potential buyers in the future.
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