How Statistics are Forcing Business Owners to Change Their Perspective

It's time to flip your perspective of information technology from a necessary, but unwelcome cost to that of a crucial business function that makes your employees as productive as possible and your business as competitive and innovative as it can be.

According to the Harvard Business Review, businesses that prioritize IT investments are 35% more productive than firms that don't. So, how does IT improve productivity? Information technology helps companies improve communication, speed business lifecycles, and eliminate waste, all of which improves a company’s productivity gains. Keep reading to learn more.

Improves Communication

Few businesses are housed within one building anymore. Even employees who do work within the same building spend time communicating on projects via IT systems. Many companies also work with outside vendors with whom employees need to correspond with frequently. That’s the nature of today’s business world, and it’s those global capabilities that enable businesses' growth beyond strictly defined borders, as was the case in the past.

Information technology streamlines communication. If you’ve ever sent an email or hopped on a conference call, you know that, and you may even take those types of communication platforms for granted. The good news is, the technologies that allow employees to communicate in real time have now been joined by a host of other collaborative systems including product lifecycle management systems, which ensure all project stakeholders, across many realms of the project, are on the same page and that project leaders are the only ones who can make changes.

Those systems are good for businesses that make teamwork a crucial factor in business and project success.

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Helps with Knowledge Capture and Transfer

IT enables businesses to capture their most valuable asset: the information behind their products, systems, and success, and to archive that information so it can be revisited, perfected, and acted upon again and again. Knowledge transfer also means getting that information to the right people at the right time, a critical component to any business’s long-term success.

Knowledge capture systems help companies remain assured that when a key team leader leaves or retires, the information that person has retained and built up over years of work isn’t lost.

Trains New and Existing Employees

To keep everyone operating at peak productivity, businesses have to get new employees up to speed through efficient training. But they also need to ensure existing employees receive ongoing training. Change is a constant of life and work, and the most efficient employees know how best to navigate new systems, new processes, and upgraded ways of doing business. Many employees will need background info on a new product or service your company offers.

The good news is, many information technology systems and modules today help streamline that training and ensure employees hear and can act upon what they’ve learned.

Keeps Company Information Safe

This point really hits home for most businesses out there today. Any business that stores and safeguards sensitive or proprietary information, whether it’s financial documents or customers' email addresses, cannot afford to lose that information. Information technology can help companies store, share, and backup files for later use and it protects information from unauthorized individuals.

Eliminates Waste

IT streamlines a company’s operating and management processes and minimizes the number of emails and phone calls employees need to make, wasted time, paperwork, and the need to search for pertinent information. It also keeps all information up to date, so companies don’t act on outdated or wrong instructions.

But, you don’t see that kind of productivity by implementing IT systems willy-nilly, because your competitors are doing it, or because you’ve heard a particular type of system can increase productivity and sales.

For something so vital as IT implementation and oversight, many companies turn to a technology success provider that can guide them through the process of choosing, implementing, and managing software and hardware.

When IT systems seem overwhelming, TSPs help sort them out and help companies on the way to realizing the productivity gains information technology promises.

If your company isn't running as efficiently as possible, it may be time to find an IT vendor that can maximize your efforts. It's worth the investment.