SMBs need to use IT as a competitive advantage
When SMB chief executives ask themselves about the modern trends they need to be paying the most attention to, the first item that pops into my mind is how today’s lightning-fast technology changes are affecting every aspect of a business. Clearly, we have seen a number of innovative and emerging technologies surface recently—machine learning, artificial intelligence, robotics, big data, cloud computing, etc. It is difficult to choose just one!
However, I believe that the biggest trend is one regarding leadership and culture—specifically, how we think about the technology management vs. the technology itself. One sure thing about technology is that it will continue to evolve and outstrip the pace of technology management.
Technology Management is as important as the technology itself
Compared to other disciplines such as finance and accounting, technology management is in its infancy. As we have seen in the industry, there are new roles evolving that were not even in existence three or five years ago; roles such as data scientist, cloud architect, agile developer, and chief digital officer to name a few.
As IT leaders, we should never fall in love with the hottest current trend or technology, rather we should be thinking about how it will be used to solve a real business challenge. Technology for technology’s sake is never a good thing. This mindset and style of leadership is crucial, as the business/technology convergence becomes the norm regardless of the size of company, industry or geography.
Technology will always continue to evolve, disrupt and invent new ways of conducting business. Because of this, I believe that a business such as IT Ally™ will become even more important in advising SMBs on how to leverage technology to grow, secure, and ultimately differentiate their businesses. In my opinion, technology has leveled the playing field for SMBs such that size no longer dictates the survival of the fittest.
Numerous examples have played out over the past decade, whereby well-established, resourced and funded technology companies became extinct. This can be due to the availability of the technology and the uniqueness of the business model to which it is attached. Consider Netflix, Uber, Airbnb, Amazon, eBay, FB, Google and I am sure many more to come.
Business model innovation and disruption will continue everywhere and companies (large and small) will need to determine how to leverage technology as a strategic weapon as a means of survival. Organizations that can master the customer experience will be the ones who dominate their markets. Technology will be a key enabler to achieve this dominance and longevity.
Enterprise Perspective for the every day business
In my prior roles as a CIO in large global businesses, I was often responsible for technology transformations which included the creation of a multi-year, business-led IT strategy. In most instances, this also included large-scale modernization of legacy systems to improve both the customer and end-user experience, as well as adding new or enhancing existing digital capabilities to the IT infrastructure.
Although the strategies and the technologies were unique for each company, the playbook was the same in that I brought together a number of key business and IT stakeholders across multiple lines of business to create a roadmap for change.
Fundamentally this was about leadership, not technology. The result of this carefully planned transformational change ultimately served to differentiate us positively from our competition.
Technology trends that are leveling the playing field for SMBs
Regarding the latest technology trends for SMBs, the list looks similar to those I have seen in my past role as a CIO. For example, we see SMBs beginning to leverage artificial intelligence, data analytics, machine learning and robotics as key strategies to drive efficiency, scale and differentiation. Cloud adoption has become the platform for digital transformation. Cybersecurity risk is being proactively addressed and significant investment is being poured into improving the customer experience. Although access to this technology is becoming more available, it is a double-edged sword figuring out how to leverage it properly.
Assessing IT Management Maturity
For most large enterprises, IT Management is an evolving and ongoing challenge given the pace of technology change, the inherent complexity of business processes, entrenched legacy systems, data quality and ugh, I am exhausted just writing about it. When it comes to SMBs, IT Management is in its infancy, often relegated to a few individuals that are essentially building it on the fly.
This scenario creates an even bigger challenge given the outpacing of technology versus technology management. So what is an SMB owner to do about this? Our suggestion is to first take stock of your management maturity by conducting a formal assessment. This doesn’t have to be a science project but should have the breadth and depth of focus that is enterprise-grade, yet relevant for the SMB.
I decided to start IT Ally with the simple mission of helping SMBs leverage technology to achieve their business objectives. This is not only a passion of mine but something that I believe is essential in the modern business landscape. I see this mission as of even greater importance to SMBs than their large corporate counterparts in terms of survival, growth and differentiation. My goal is to help fill this need.
If you’re interested in connecting with us, schedule a 30-minute consultation with one of our key advisors.
[This article was originally published on itallyllc.com.]
