Scrappy, short-term fixes and quick software implementations helped many businesses stay afloat during the chaos of 2020. But barring global pandemics, brisk change isn’t always beneficial to the long-term success of your company. In fact—it could even hinder it.
Still, the technology landscape is constantly evolving, and businesses must keep up or risk being left behind by competitors and customers alike. The solution? Tech acceleration. Tech acceleration refers to the process of intelligently improving the technology your employees rely on in a way that considers the future and helps your organization achieve its long-term goals.
To successfully integrate new technology solutions in your infrastructure, here are a few key elements to keep in mind throughout the tech acceleration process:
1. Think Long-Term
While quick implementation of collaborative, remote-work solutions helped small- to mid-sized businesses remain relatively unscathed during the pandemic, they also led to hiccups ranging from integration challenges to limited long-term value.
This is why it is critical to consider your goals before implementing new solutions. You’ll want to thoroughly evaluate whether your present systems are advanced and integrated enough to support your business objectives five, 10 years into the future; not just the present.
2. Evaluate Previous Technology Investments
Examine last year’s tech acceleration investments to identify where you need improvements. To determine whether your acceleration is on the right track, you’ll want to assess whether prior investments have served your vision for the future.
3. Benchmarking
What is the status of your tech acceleration environment? The metric used to measure your progress should consider levels of cybersecurity, customer experience, employee experience, technology integration across the organization, backups, compliance and so on.
If your progress isn’t meeting expectations, find out what other firms are doing and consider what changes you can make to improve your organization's performance.
4. Consider the Total Experience
Total experience (TX) refers to a blend of customer and employee experiences (CX and EX). In other words, it focuses on addressing customer and employee needs to produce better long-term and meaningful business outcomes.
Experts estimate that by 2026, 60% of large enterprises will use total experience (TX) to transform their business models in order to achieve world-class customer and employee advocacy levels.*
5. Commit to Integration
Individually outstanding solutions that don’t work well together will not serve you in the long run or help you scale. Integrating your systems unifies the customer and employee experience—reducing the risk of error, increasing efficiency and providing the opportunity to automate repetitive operations, among other benefits.
It’s time to say goodbye to short-term fixes, and hello to smart tech acceleration. By upgrading your IT ecosystem, you can achieve greater productivity and operational success for the long term. And you don’t have to do it alone.
CHR can help you plan, implement and manage your technology infrastructure to ensure it’s moving you towards your long-term goals and vision. Contact us today.
* Gartner Report: Future of Work Trends
