DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

An Opportunity for the Small and Mid-sized Business

Digital transformation has been a global trend for few years already, and plenty of literature can be found describing how it is changing the industry overall. Terms like: Internet-of-Things (IoT), data analytics, machine learning, Industry 4.0, cloud computing, smart factory, mobile Apps, and 3D printing have been used to describe this transformation, yet most experts fundamentally agree that the Digital Transformation is about the use of technology to drastically improve performance of organizations.

While many small and mid-size businesses (SMB) may feel intimidated, overwhelmed or uncertain how Digital Transformation applies to them, most agree that keeping up with technological trends is a necessity to stay competitive.

Nowadays small business productivity is as important as the likelihood of success of any business. Anything that can interrupt the operation, like a system being frequently down or software that is not compatible with the current trend of technology, is going to cause a business to slowdown. The more productive and responsive the technology is, the more businesses can get back into focusing in their goals.

There are steps that SMB can take to bring technological changes to enhance business performance, but proper implementation planning and good integration between the solutions are key to a successful digital transformation.

Office Productivity Suite

One of the fastest growing technological trends that has been adopted across the industry is cloud computing. Cloud computing is the access of computing services over the internet. The cloud service provider helps businesses to focus on their core activities by handling IT infrastructure requirements (licensing, technical support, updates, data storage, security).

Office tools like Microsoft Office 365 and Google Docs are cloud-based, allowing the use of the software suite over the internet from any computer or mobile device. The data and documents are securely stored in third-party clouds, so there is no dependence in a local storage device. Documents can also be shared between multiple individuals, promoting more collaborative and productive work.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Robotic Process Automation, or RPA, is technology intended to simulate the work humans do when interacting with a computer, without a physical robot.

For example, if you have a system where users enter data and that data needs to be sent to another system, a typical IT solution might create a data interface between the two systems. This can take a great amount of time, to understand the data, rules, file structures, define the requirement specifications, develop and test. RPA can complete this kind of process without needing to spend substantial time and money on costly systems integrations.

RPA can also complete manual processes like repetitive and tedious multi-key stroke steps, speeding them up dramatically and virtually eliminating human mistakes.

RPA is meant to be easy enough for a business user to implement and configure, rather than having an IT department to do the work. Most RPA solutions have an intuitive and ease-of-use interface that requires no coding experience.

RPA solutions from UiPath, Automation Anywhere and Blue Prismare the most popular and have been in the market for several years. According to UiPath, some of the common human repetitive tasks that RPA robots are capable of mimicking include: logging into applications, moving files and folders, copying and pasting data, filling in forms, extracting structured and semi-structured data from documents, scraping browsers, and performing calculation.

RPA has numerous advantages that can bring operational efficiencies and time savings compared to other IT solutions, making a great option for SMBs.

Accounting Services

Most new accounting solutions today, are cloud-based, which make it easier for business owners stay connected to their data and their accountants. Business owners can invite users to view your real-time data while controlling the level of access, instead of using less secure methods to transfer the data like emailing files or using a USB drive.

Popular accounting services, like QuickBooks, FreshBooks, Zoho Books, Xero, and Kashoo, are provided in Software as a Service (SaaS) plan, where the software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted.

Cloud-based accounting services have focused on mobility, usability, added features, and integration with other cloud based solutions like ecommerce, which make them the best option for SMBs.

Social Media

SMBs that actively manage multiple social business channels to reach out customers and potential customers, understand that managing social media presence can be time consuming and can easily turn into a full time job.

Social media management platforms like, Hoodsuite, Sprout Social and Spreadfast, can help manage and automate all web and social media activity from one place. These platforms provide tools for implementing and managing campaigns across all social profiles without needing to sign in to each social network individually. Additional features include social analytics to track follower’s engagement, and team management for better collaboration.

Web Analytics

Web analytics is about collecting, processing and reporting web traffic data with the purpose of improving the effectiveness of a website. Most agree that a business website is the single most important marketing tool for businesses, and content, design and structure of the website directly impact lead generation.

Cloud-based Website analytics solutions like Google Analytics, Adobe analytics, Bing webmaster tools, Webtrends, and Quantcast can measure a visitor’s behavior once in the business website, and help determine the areas for improvement.

Robotics

In the age of raising technology and raising competition, manufacturers are required to boost productivity, improve product quality and provide greater job satisfaction.

Technology advancement has made robotics more accessible. What once seemed to be like the far future and cost forbidden, is now a normal reality for SMB. Products from Universal Robots make automation less expensive for small and mid-sized businesses to implement in applications like: assembly, polishing, quality inspection, CNC, injection molding, pick & place, screwdriving, lab analysis & testing, packaging & palletizing, gluing, dispensing and welding.

Implementation of robotics is also less complex than it used to be. For instance, Universal Robots claims that their robots can be unpacked, installed and programmed in less than one hour, not requiring special electrical set-up or advance programming knowledge.

Additive Manufacturing

One route SMBs are taking to reduce cost and resources for development of new products is the use of additive manufacturing, commonly know as 3D printing. Additive manufacturing can help a SMB to produce prototypes of almost any type of products, giving a more realistic opportunity to test several different variations and easily detect weaknesses in the design.

Thanks to the progress in technology and popularity, the cost of additive manufacturing equipment has been decreasing over the past years. There are also plenty of 3D printing service providers like 3D Systems, Stratasys, Accucode 3D, Protolabs, BuildParts and Hubs, which can quote instantly and produce parts after uploading the CAD files.

As a final note, when implementing new solutions, the support and lessons learned offered by third parties can convey valuable help to make the best decisions based on unique objectives, but also avoid common mistakes, build awareness of potential risks and opportunities, and adopt best practices.

The goal of this article was to provide some examples of technologies currently available. With these solutions in mind, SMBs can start looking at processes to determine where the addition of one or more digital tools can help modernize their business to improve performance, and better differentiate from their competition.

 

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