How to Leverage Technology Innovation for Greater Business Success

If you’re a small- to mid-market business, technology innovation can play a significant role in helping you to achieve greater and faster success. 

With the right digital improvements and technologies, you can reduce work-process bottlenecks and create more efficient operations, saving time and money. That said, knowing precisely which innovations to invest in, what’s most important right now, and where to start can be challenging. 

Here are six cases in which technology innovation can help drive your business forward.

1. 1. automation to save time and money
   2. cloud computing to enhance workflows
   3. big data to improve processes
   4. digital process automation to optimize operations
   5. tools to increase worker satisfaction
   6. digital marketing to boost your brand

Let’s dig into some pointers on leveraging the right technology and automation and why these six areas could be vital to you.

Embrace automation to save time and money

Automating processes is a great way to save time in the workplace. Luhhu offers a guide to the different types of automation and how they can benefit your business. 

For example, basic automation can digitize mundane high-volume tasks, saving manpower. This could look something like automating tasks and business management processes.

Enhanced automation can handle more sophisticated processes, reducing the likelihood of human error. This type of automation should really be implemented any time you’re working with important company and customer data.

If you really want to dig into all the areas in your business that you could automate, check out the nine tactical ways to leverage automation in the workplace from Zapier. 

Adopt cloud computing to enhance workflows

Cloud computing can benefit your small business in various ways. It allows multiple people to access the same data, documents, and programs stored on a remote server. The only thing you need is an internet connection. 

You can use this technology to back up company data, simplify information sharing, or run software applications by using: 

• • cloud storage (think Google Drive & Dropbox), 
  • cloud hosting (for your website, domain, and emails), 
  • cloud backup (an extra layer of protection), 
  • and many different SaaS products (your CRM, finance management, email marketing, etc.)

Use big data to improve processes

Big data is an umbrella term referring to the procedures and technologies used to manage enormous data sets. Big data can help give your business a competitive advantage by improving complicated processes, from employee onboarding to customer service. 

Put simply, big data doesn’t mean “a lot of data.” It was born out of the need to thread together different types of large data sets generated from different areas of your company to surface trends and patterns.

Use digital process automation to optimize operations

The successor of Business Process Management (BPM), Digital Process Automation (DPA) improves workflows and removes bottlenecks inside your business like BPM but focuses on the customer’s experience as well. 

Most of the goals of the technology innovation we discuss in this article are around internal processes and optimization, but for true business success, the experience of your customers is just as crucial. This means making strides to digitally transform your business and automate customer processes. 

Invest in tools to increase worker satisfaction

Technology innovation improves your business, saving it time and money. However, it should also be helpful to your team. After all, they are the basis for your business success. Towards this end, prioritize technologies that boost worker satisfaction. Planday provides tips for using tech to make workers happier. For instance, look at tools that enhance communication, improve learning, and provide reinforcement and feedback.

Try digital marketing to boost your brand

Digital marketing is all about innovation, driving engagement, and doing it at a lower cost, more efficiently. This is especially true for small and mid-market companies who have a smaller team and smaller budget.

The digital marketing space has blown up with the number of tools and price ranges that are available to you to improve marketing processes, tracking, email, social, and automation.

We can’t list all the applications here, but a simple search such as digital marketing tools for small businesses or mid-market to enterprise will send you on the right path.

Be strategic when onboarding technology innovation

This is the last but most important nugget we want to leave you with.

Integrating technology innovation into your business requires careful planning and review. You don’t just want to drop new technologies on employees and leave them to sink or swim. It’s essential to provide sufficient hands-on training and solicit feedback. 

Every business and every team is different, and it’s just as important to optimize how you use technology versus just having it that will make a difference. You want to regularly revisit new technology, ensuring it’s appropriately and sufficiently used.

About the Author

Tina Martin was always driven by success. That is until she realized that the idea of success was always in the future. She quit her corporate career in business administration to focus on her happiness today; she quickly transitioned into life as a fitness trainer. She found that physical health and life goals went hand in hand and started Ideaspired to help others realize the same. Today, Tina uses her experiences to boost the efforts and happiness of others as a life coach.