We are in a technological, digital, innovative world, we have entered a new era. Innovation and technology provide us with solutions and tools for almost any aspect of life. People interact and communicate through new technologies that have changed our ways of relating and are essential in our day to day.
Businesses are digitized, digital transformation is necessary for long-term survival, factories incorporate technologies from Industry 4.0 towards smart manufacturing…
Where does an SME start its digitization process?
The company must analyze its state of digital maturity. Depending on the objectives of the business, the company must seek the priority needs to establish the roadmap and choose which technology partners are the best to achieve them.
Digitization should pursue the improvement of sales (creating a website as a new sales channel, online marketing to publicize the business, service channels such as social networks, chat, WhatsApp), productivity improvement (apps and software that improve management ) and greater savings and control (cloud and connectivity).
Basic technologies to implement in SMEs:
Regarding the technological solutions that small and medium-sized companies must incorporate:
- Connectivity. Fixed and mobile.
- Online commerce. Website and online sales.
- Cybersecurity. To protect you from threats.
- Digital Workplace and Telework.
- The Cloud or cloud and Big data Business intelligence. Backups and data analysis for better decision making.
- Digitization of Business Processes. Like general CRM or ERP, or by specific processes.
- Devices to digitize premises. Maximize the knowledge of the client for the products or services offered, as well as personalize their attention and offer.
- IoT platforms (internet of things). The automatic collection of information, video surveillance, device attention…
This is a convenient digitization approach for the most common of companies, keeping it up to date with what the market demands.
It is logical that depending on the sector in which each company is located, in addition to the common digitization tasks, Industry 4.0 technologies such as IOT, 3d printing, virtual reality, robotics etc. are adopted.
Benefits of digitization:
- Increase in business volume. You reach a larger audience, more potential customers, and globally.
- Increases productivity. Automate and streamline all processes so it allows you to make all decisions and carry them out more quickly.
- It allows you to offer your product or service 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
- Reach your customers better. Without a doubt, your current and potential customers are, more and more, in the digital environment. In this way, confidence in new forms of consumption and the digitization of daily life require that the company be present wherever its customers move, it brings you closer to your customers through more direct and personalized communication
- Access new business opportunities. The incorporation of new users, the change in consumer habits, new service subscription models, the rapid adoption of technology…, open up enormous opportunities to exploit new products or services that respond to the needs of the public.
- Save costs. Although the digitization of companies may require a significant initial investment, in the medium and long term it will mean great savings. Thus, from something as simple as the elimination of paper, to the automation of processes or the exploitation of data, the economic impact can be enormous.
- Improving customer satisfaction. Undoubtedly, if the digitization of the company makes processes faster, improves direct and omnichannel communication with the user and allows a better service to be provided, global customer satisfaction will increase significantly.