The Shocking Truth: Why Every Company Is a Technology Company

Why every company is a technology company

Today’s companies and consumers use a massive amount of technology. Consumers use technology to speed things up and make transactions transparent. Businesses use it to better serve their customers, shorten customer service cycles and improve the sales process. 

Because of this tech focus, we recommend prioritizing the technological components of your organization that inform nearly every aspect of running your business. 

Here are four primary reasons why every company is a tech company. 

1. Customer expectations are different in a digital-first world.

Whether you sell to consumers or focus on B2B sales, customers’ expectations have evolved in a digital-first world. Your clients expect your business to offer the latest tech advancements and strategies. For example, they may expect you to have a website and mobile app, offer live chat services and provide instant account information. One of the reasons for these tech expectations is the continuing cross-pollination of consumer and business technologies.

In the past, serious enterprise technologists would disregard consumer technology. Today, most leading-edge enterprise technology methods and practices come from the consumer world. Whether it’s mobile payment options, social media trends, or advances in design and interaction, there is a significant crossover between consumer and business tech.

Your customers, partners and employees operate in the consumer world and are privy to the latest tech advances. In particular, customers expect the personalized service and experience that technology can provide. Offering these personalized experiences to customers is an enormous opportunity for your business to meet clients’ needs. To take advantage of tech trends, you’ll require flexible technology systems. 

2. Competitive landscapes continue to accelerate.

A fiercely competitive landscape is the new normal in business. Companies must be able to rapidly adopt and integrate new technologies to stand out from the competition.

Consider what happened to companies that didn’t evolve with the latest technology, such as Kodak, Blockbuster and Research in Motion (RIM). You may not think your business model will become obsolete, but neither did these companies. When faced with innovations around them, they were so wedded to their current business model that they failed to anticipate the future.

These companies faced numerous challenges amid a rapidly changing tech landscape. They were wary of cannibalizing their existing business model for what could have been temporary fads. And they were so massive that changing would have required years of effort. 

What do you do in this situation? It’s advisable for companies to make one small bet each quarter, and if that turns out to be a winner, put more resources into it.

In an evolving tech landscape, your company must manage its current business while systematically probing new models. This means rapidly developing solutions and infrastructure to explore a new space and quickly ramping up if the opportunity turns out to be significant.

3. Product life cycles are shortening.

With software changing every aspect of how companies operate, product and service life cycles are shortening. Products that used to have decade-long refresh timelines now get updated within 12 to 24 months.

Services like sales, marketing, legal, product development and merchandising must be agile enough to react in tandem to emerging opportunities. A big part of creating this agility across departments is implementing software and technology systems that enhance everyone’s ability to react to change.

4. Technology capability determines operational capability.

Outsourcing has been a big trend over the past decade. Company owners have found themselves outsourcing significant chunks of their software development and technology implementation to a third party. 

The downside of tech outsourcing is that it reduces your internal technology capabilities while potentially locking you into multiyear agreements. Consequently, outsourcing your tech support may slow your reaction to marketplace threats or opportunities.

The most successful and highest-performing companies don’t separate their business and technology strategies. Tech is part of their DNA, and they would never outsource this significant competitive advantage. Companies that realize they’re in the technology business can drive speed and innovation by closely aligning their technology and business leaders to create solutions together.

Many successful companies across industries share these habits:

• They are in various stages of digital transition.
• They try to make sense of rapidly changing demographic trends, such as noting that generational payment preferences differ.
• They understand that technologies on the cutting edge just five years ago no longer work well.

It’s crucial to remember that digital transformation is a destination — a never-ending journey of continuous improvement, innovation and experimentation. Companies that successfully create internal “engines of innovation” position themselves to stay competitive.

How to incorporate technology into your business

There are many ways to incorporate technology into your business’s day-to-day operations. Changes can be small or large, but they must be impactful. This, in turn, will help your company operate more effectively. 

Here are a few areas where technology can positively impact your business:

• Customer relationship management (CRM): CRM tools can centralize your prospects and clients, streamline the process of generating sales leads, and help you successfully convert more leads into customers. When you implement one of the best CRM platforms, your staff will better understand their customers and stay in closer contact, shortening the sales cycle. When used properly, CRM solutions can also increase upselling and cross-selling opportunities and help you earn repeat business.
• Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP): Many of the best business phone services incorporate VoIP technology to help streamline how employees interact with one another and customers. A good VoIP system should also integrate with your CRM solution to enhance communication and documentation efficiency.
• Cybersecurity: With digital innovation comes a measure of vulnerability to cyberattacks. If you have an e-commerce brand that stores customer data in any capacity, it’s essential to invest in a cybersecurity plan with state-of-the-art security measures. For example, consider using a top internet security and antivirus solution to protect the business and your customers’ private data.
• Apps: Can you convert some service team duties into an app with a customer-controlled process? Any tech investment that provides a great customer experience is worthwhile.
• Controls: It’s crucial to protect your company with access control solutions. Identity access control protects your networks and data by permitting only authorized personnel to access relevant systems. Visitor management systems and employee access technology, like biometric authentication solutions, are ways to safeguard your organization.
• Software: Manual systems are prone to human error, so consider implementing robust software systems wherever possible. For example, the best accounting and invoicing software can keep your business financially sound, and document management systems will help you track, store and manage internal files.

These are just a few examples of ways to implement the latest technology into your business. Stay on top of tech and industry trends to identify the best ways for your company to adopt a tech business mindset.