Strategic uses of information technology

IT Stands for "Information Technology," . It refers to anything related to computing technology, such as networking, hardware, software, the Internet, or the people that work with these technologies. Many companies now have IT departments for managing the computers, networks, and other technical areas of their businesses. IT jobs include computer programming, network administration, computer engineering, Web development, technical support, and many other related occupations. Since we live in the "information age," information technology has become a part of our everyday lives. That means the term "IT," already highly overused, is here to stay.

Regardless of whether an organization’s service area is local, regional or global in scope, it is important for all business leaders to constantly be vigilant in considering new ways to increase operational efficiency in today’s highly competitive marketplace.

Reducing costs is not the only way to improve efficiency. It is equally essential to examine how various aspects are functioning and look for new and innovative ways to improve or augment systems. Technology is evolving so rapidly today that frequently new solutions come to light that were not available five years or even a year ago.

Efficiency is important for any type of business, but is especially essential for not-for-profit organizations, which have more limited resources. For organizations operating in today’s volatile health care environment, the use of smart technology can dramatically improve patient experience while reducing costs and increasing staff efficiency and security.

The Role of Information Technology in Business Success

Innovation is the great way to success in this digital age. The path of innovation in business means doing something different, smarter or better that will make a positive difference in terms of value, quality or productivity by using emerging or proved technologies of the world. The technology which has already proved itself in last two decades is of course the information technology (IT). It has dramatically changed the lives of the individuals and organisations. Currently online shopping, digital marketing, social networking, digital communication and cloud computing etc are the best examples of change which came through the wave of information technology. Now accurate business planning, effective marketing, global sales, systematic management, real time monitoring, instant customer support and long term business growth cannot be achieved at the optimum level without IT.

The importance of IT in Business:

The success of every business depends on certain factors. Some of which are accurate analysis, choosing the right technology and the future vision. Research from the last two decade has proved that those organisations that do invest in technology and choose the path of innovation increase their market share, financial figures and overall competitiveness. Information technology is the only technology which provides you the opportunity to analyse specific data and plan your business journey accordingly. It also provides you many tools which can solve complex problems and plan the scalability (future growth) of your business. In the modern age, it is proved that digital marketing is a great tool which let you promote your products or services to the global market while sitting in the comfort of your remote office or home. And thanks to the cloud computing and modern communication which enable you to form a global organisation, manage and monitor its virtual offices all over the world. Now I will briefly explain how information technology plays a vital role in different phases of business.

Decision Making

Speed and accuracy are at the heart of making right decision for your business. Every successful organisation has to go through a comprehensive market research process which enables management to make the right decision.  Market research can be done in many ways through online surveys, forums, blogs, group discussions using World Wide Web and of course through in-person interviews as well. Currently Big data, Google Analytics and Microsoft CRM Dynamics are also great tools to extract useful information which can impact on decision making. These online tools not only provide real time responses from the potential audience but also ensure the accuracy of data by minimising the risk of human errors.

Marketing and Business Growth

The heart of the business success lies in its marketing which enables the management to identify its target audience first and then observe their trends and needs. The overall marketing covers public relation, advertising, promotion and sales which subsequently impact on business growth. Many types of marketing can help you reach your potential customers. But I will briefly explain digital marketing here which was the dream in the past without Internet technology. Digital Marketing is a modern phenomenon which let you promote your products or services all over the world. It is a broad term which includes many concepts like search engine optimisation (SEO), pay per click (PPC), blogging, discussion forum, email shot, SMS, MMS, social media marketing and Smartphone app advertisement etc. Currently web market is booming at a very fast pace because most of the entrepreneurs have understood that the long term success in business is not possible without digital presence on the internet. Millions of new websites are being added on the internet every year.

Customer Support and Satisfaction

Higher level of customer satisfaction is the key to success which cannot be achieved without a real time customer support process. Business success depends on knowing its customers needs, trends, behaviors and satisfaction level. Effective communication is the best tool to understand the customer demands, problems and their solutions. Thanks to the Internet Technology that has enabled us to communicate with millions of potential or existing customer in the real time. IT provides many channels to communicate with the customer without going out in snow or rain. Some of these channels are email, webinar, social media, member portals, online newsletters and text or multimedia messaging through the smart phone.  Enterprise organisations normally use customer relationship management systems (CRM) to hold valuable data for understanding customer behaviors and future needs.

Resource Management and Globalization

Resource management plays a crucial role in business success. When it comes to medium or large organisation, it is very hard for the top management to manage all the resources manually. These resources may include tangible, financial or human resources etc. Information technology has played a vital role in automating such complex problems by introducing user friendly solutions. A decade ago, most of the resource management solutions were desktop based. Thanks to the internet and cloud technology which enables software engineers to introduce cloud based ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solutions. Now, the managers can manage or monitor their organisational resources virtually anywhere in the world by using their personal computer, laptops, tablets or Smartphone. This concept has introduced the idea of globalization. Most of multinational companies (Microsoft, Google, Amazon, McDonalds etc) in the world use these cloud based solutions to manage their virtual or physical offices and staff worldwide.

It is impossible to attain long term business success without leveraging the benefits of information technology in this digital age. The companies have to bear a reasonable cost to achieve this success because using an innovative approach in business strategy, employing highly trained IT professionals and making right decisions at right time are the prerequisite of business success. As IT solutions continue to increase the productivity, efficiency and effectiveness of business operations and communication, business will continue to rely on Information Technology for success.