Did you know that technology is a competitive weapon?
In today’s increasingly tech-centric business landscape, digital prowess is a key brand differentiator at the market level. Even for brick-and-mortar businesses with non-tech offerings, marketing battles can still take place in the digital arena.
In Microsoft’s State of Tech Intensity Study, 75% of respondents said they believed that embracing tech was the most effective way to build competitive advantage today and in the future.
IT is no longer an option in the fiercely competitive business environment. Your digital footprint can make all the difference between success and failure.
Let’s discuss how IT enhances the way you compete.
Business tech is all about speed, efficiency, and accuracy. Take AI, for example; intelligent tools can easily automate complex tasks that would otherwise be too cumbersome and time-consuming for employees. Thanks to AI, processes that would normally take days can be dealt with in minutes. That way, you get more out of the business while saving valuable time and resources.
But how does cutting costs and boosting productivity make you more competitive? Well, you lower operational costs, which means you can design and price your offerings more competitively.
Personalization is the key to meaningful customer engagement. Eighty-one percent of customers prefer companies that offer a personalized experience. Clearly, building a personalized customer experience wins you favour in consumer markets. But you can’t do that without tech.
Leveraging digital solutions, such as customer relationship managers, is crucial for understanding your customers’ individual needs and preferences. From there, you can tune your customer-facing channels to engage clients on a personal level. We’re talking personalized marketing emails, browsing experience, and even support.
Information is the most valuable asset in any business. Enterprises generate a copious amount of data from customer touchpoints, supply chains, market trends, sales figures, etc. Such data, if harnessed properly, can inform critical business decisions.
Leveraging data means drawing meaningful insights, ideally using digital analytical methods. Modern analytics tools can instantly perform detailed and accurate market, customer, supply chain, production, staff, and competitor analysis. You can then use the results to make competitive choices.
You can’t go wrong with data analytics. In a recent survey, 64% of respondents ranked big data and analytics as the top tech initiatives, giving their company a competitive edge in 2023.
Tech empowers your business to quickly seize emerging opportunities. It does so by enhancing your business agility, making your business model and operations more flexible. That way, you’re able to seamlessly adapt to new changes.
Business agility sharpens your competitive edge by increasing your speed-to-market. It also makes your enterprise more resilient in the face of unexpected challenges.
IT systems by themselves won’t make your business any more competitive unless you can effectively leverage their power. If you’re going to use tech in your competitive or market strategy, the digital infrastructure, processes, and workflows must be in tip-top shape. You must have all the right mechanisms running smoothly, efficiently, and reliably.
Let Highway 99 turn your IT into a competitive advantage. Our managed IT team will work with you to ensure that your tech investment puts you ahead of the competition. We help businesses get the most out of IT and drive growth through digital innovations.
Get in touch to learn more.
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The term “digital transformation” has become a buzzword in recent years. Globally, 89% of large companies are on a digital transformation journey.
Digital transformation is now a crucial factor in business growth and success. That’s why so many organizations have suddenly prioritized digitization.
But what do we really mean by digital transformation? Let’s define digital transformation and explore its key elements.
Put simply, digital transformation is the process of incorporating new digital technologies into all areas of business. Some people also use the terms “modernization” or “digitization” to mean digital transformation.
However, digital transformation goes deeper than just implementing new technologies. It’s a holistic shift from the old to the new. This involves not only upgrading legacy systems but also revamping the business’s fundamental workflows, culture, processes, and models.
The end goal is to boost business efficiency and productivity through digital maturity.
Digital transformation touches on all aspects of business, not just IT. Here’s what it takes to develop a successful digital transformation strategy.
The first thing you need to do is define achievable goals and objectives for your transformation journey. You must have a clear vision for your modernization efforts. Some of the specific targets you can set for digital transformation include:
The people aspect of digital transformation includes business leaders, employees, stakeholders, and clients. Developing a digital transformation roadmap requires input from everyone involved. That’s because the choices made can have far-reaching effects across the entire organization. Also, you should appoint team leaders to spearhead the transformation and keep things on track.
Data-driven insights are essential for steering digital transformation in the right direction. For starters, you should have a pretty good idea of what needs to be done and very realistic expectations of your actions. That’s where business intelligence comes in—thorough research and data analytics.
You need a solid action plan to get the ball rolling. The action plan should clearly outline the transformation scope, budget, schedule, and those involved. This is where you start upgrading systems and processes with new digital solutions.
Depending on the digitization scope, it might be necessary to break down the action plan into distinct phases. This divide-and-conquer IT strategy spreads out the execution load, ensuring that teams are not overwhelmed by too many sudden and drastic changes.
You need a way to measure your digital transformation success. Success measurements can be done during and after completing a modernization project. You’ll, of course, draw success indicators from comparing the results to your initial goals and expectations.
A strategic IT partner is a great addition to any digital transformation project. A managed IT provider, to be specific, bridges the technical skill gaps in your efforts and helps you execute a flawless transformation. The IT provider works hand in hand with you throughout the entire journey. They will guide your decision-making and help you integrate new technologies along the way.
Given that only 35% of digital transformation journeys are successful, you’ll need all the expert help you can get. And that could mean teaming up with a knowledgeable and experienced partner in the field.
Highway 99 Technology Solutions Inc. is such a partner. We form fruitful long-term partnerships with organizations looking to grow by leveraging tech innovations. Leave all the heavy lifting to us, from drawing up a goal-oriented digitization roadmap and putting an action plan to supporting the new implementation.
Let us take you on a successful digital transformation journey.
Contact us to get started.
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So, you’re thinking about outsourcing your IT management. That’s a good start to making your digital infrastructure more efficient and productive.
However, not all IT service providers are created equal, and managed IT is not a one-size-fits-all kind of solution. You want an IT provider that perfectly fits your organization’s IT setup, needs, and pain points.
Now, the big question is: how do you find the best managed IT provider? You have to shop around and vet potential IT partners until you find the best match for your business. We’ve prepared 10 essential questions for you to ask each candidate during the vetting process.
Ask IT providers about the kind and scope of services they offer. Some specialize in particular areas such as cloud computing, consultancy, data management, or break-fix support. Others are more of a Swiss Army Knife dealing with everything tech-related.
Some IT providers only serve businesses of a specific model, industry, or size. Find out if the IT provider is keen on working with your kind of business and if they’ve partnered with similar businesses before.
Can other businesses vouch for the IT provider? Ask if there’s anyone you could speak to—ideally past or current clients—about the overall managed IT experience. Resources such as case studies, testimonials, and reviews might come in handy to answer this question.
Delegating IT management means partnering with an outsider. You want to make sure that the new IT partner is compatible with your company at all levels. Check whether the service provider’s values, ethics, and mission align with your own.
Managed IT service providers serve multiple organizations at the same time. With that in mind, it’s important to know the amount of dedication they afford each client. Find out if you can reach and engage the IT provider at any time.
As we mentioned earlier, managed IT is not one-size-fits-all. Even if an IT provider is compatible with your business, their services might not solve all your needs. Most IT providers can adapt their subscription models or service packages to suit your preferences.
This is one of the most important questions to ask when choosing an IT partner. Find out how quickly the service provider responds to an incident or query. The quicker, the better. Every second counts when IT outages cost as much as $14,056 per minute.
Ask the IT provider if they make on-site visits or offer support remotely. Go for an IT partner that does both. While remote services are excellent for round-the-clock monitoring, some IT tasks can’t be performed remotely.
Cost is obviously a big deciding factor when choosing an IT provider. After all, cost saving is one of the main motivations for outsourcing IT services. However, be sure you are comparing apples to apples: some IT providers charge a predictable all-inclusive monthly fee whereas others charge a lower monthly fee but raise unexpected hourly charges for work you might have expected to be included.
On top of IT support, you should get a strategic business partner out of managed IT services. Find out exactly what the service provider brings to the table to boost overall business growth and success. For instance, can they help you make critical business decisions?
Looking for a managed IT provider that checks all the boxes? You’ve come to the right place.
We do it all, including IT consultancy, cybersecurity solutions, IT support, and data backup. More importantly, we help your business grow by unlocking its digital potential.
Let’s talk. Tell us what you’re looking for in a managed IT provider.