4 Ways Technology Can Transform Business Processes
Alexa, Close the blinds. That’s how easily you operate a modern-day automated home. Siri! Clean my inbox. That’s how quickly you get your smartphone’s inbox cleaned up with just a voice command. You say ‘Hello Google,’ and you have the most advanced voice assistant at your service. You can conveniently command these AI-based assistants to operate your smart devices, cars, homes, and even home appliances. All these inventions make it quite evident how technology has changed the way we carry out routine tasks.
Technology is invading more and more aspects of human life at an unprecedented rate. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased the pace of digitalization. In this scenario, it becomes evident that technology will further transform the way we do business. It has already started to change the landscape of modern-day business operations. There is not a single business function that has not absorbed disruptive technology.
The current key to success for most businesses is controlling the rate at which they absorb technology. It drives the race toward the latest innovations. No business can incorporate innovation in its processes unless it embraces technology.
This article discusses four ways technology can transform business processes in the future. It will cover four major functional areas of business; administration, finance, marketing, and human resources.
1. Technology in business administration
Your business might be having hundreds of employees. These hundreds of employees interact with each other thousands of times a day. They require administrative assistance at dozens of these interactions. Now imagine how hectic it can be for someone to cater to such extensive administrative demands.
Technology – especially information technology (IT), has solved these issues. It has provided robust database maintenance systems that help employees in their day-to-day activities. Furthermore, organizations worldwide are significantly leveraging technology to streamline their business activities. For instance, companies in northern England have come to realize the importance of technological solutions and advancements. Many organizations operating in or in the vicinity of Doncaster are availing IT Support in Doncaster to improve business processes.
It will undoubtedly transform the way employees perform their daily business roles. They can work without any lag since IT support immediately resolves their administrative issues. Instead of approaching line managers and other seniors, employees will be interacting with IT-based databases. These databases will contain actionable suggestions complementary to daily concerns.
2. Technology in finance
Financial technology or Fintech has completely revamped the way we used to conduct traditional financial activities. Though technology and finance were always close friends, recent developments in this field have brought about revolutionary changes.
There was a time when financial data was the most confidential one. Now we have open banking where financial bodies share data to create better finance options for the customer. It became possible only because of the better data security provided through modern tech tools. According to Allied Market Research, the open banking market size will reach $43 billion in 2026.
This data sharing will provide more insights to businesses about their current and prospective customers. They can then target the proper financial channels. Similarly, the times are long gone when companies used to wait for days long banking processes to transfer their payments. Now it happens at the ease of a single click. Mobile payments, NFC, e-wallets, and digital accounts are the new norm of making purchases. According to Statista, 1.17 billion people preferred mobile payments in 2020. It will further speed up the transaction process in the future.
3. Technology in marketing
Undoubtedly, marketing has seen the most number of technological disruptions than any other business function. Technology has entirely ruled out some traditional ATL and BTL marketing strategies. Whereas, it has also introduced some new ones.
Social media and digital marketing are the products of such technological disruptions. Businesses used to invest millions in country-wide billboarding to attract customers and stay relevant in the market. Now they can achieve a similar level of market reach with social media posts – or even more than that.
However, the Internet of Things (IoT) has produced the most profound impact on marketing from a tech perspective. It is an interconnected web of devices through software, systems, and other networking sources. It provides a vast platform of connected users, sharing content, and going through various purchase options. Therefore, it helps businesses to generate better customer insights. It then allows them to create stronger value propositions for customers.
Moreover, IoT has also created cutting-edge marketing channels like geofence marketing. It is a form of location-based marketing. Once a customer enters its geofence, they receive marketing material from nearby businesses. All these tech gimmicks in marketing can mainly transform the customer reachability of companies. It can make them multinational within no time since they can study global audiences efficiently.
4. Technology in Human Resource Management
Human resource is undoubtedly the most critical resource of any organization. Technology has profoundly impacted human resource management like other functions as well. Primarily, the process of recruitment and selection of new talent has absorbed the most technological change than other HR functions. The traditional ways of posting jobs in newspapers, manually mailing resumes, and maintaining databases have nearly gone extinct.
Now we have online platforms for job postings. People can quickly search and apply for jobs at the ease of a click. HR departments have real-time application tracking systems. These systems efficiently maintain the candidate’s application data and show the progress to both the parties involved. The entire process of recruitment and selection has become quick and more productive. Moreover, it provides a broad reach to rich talent resources. Companies can now hire the most befitting talent according to their requirements than ever before.
Technology has also provided HR tools like HRMS (Human Resource Management System) and HRIS (Human Resource Information System). These tools have enabled organizations to gauge workforce requirements, plan successions, appraise performance, and train employees in a better way.
Conclusion
We have reached a point where it seems nearly impossible to operate a business successfully without proper technological assistance. Either it’s the general management and administration or specialized business functions like finance and marketing, technology is essential in all. Otherwise, you cannot compete in the global environment. Your business will never realize its true potential. It cannot expand beyond a certain threshold. It will eventually lose market size and fade in the face of the cut-throat competition of modern markets. Therefore, it is imperative to analyze your business environment and adopt relevant technological advances.