To compete in a digital age, you must demand more from your technology investments. It’s no secret that when productivity goals and cost margins are managed, the scope for business growth is huge.

In the past, you’ve probably bought IT solutions based on their features, functionality, and cost. Today you need a shift in mindset. That means balancing value for money on investment against delivery of agreed business outcomes. Only an equal partnership with your service provider will guarantee that your IT and communication provision is up to this challenge.

In this article, we’ll be exploring what is driving this change, where your service provider can add value and why only an equal partnership between your business and provider will work.

 

Technology: A Driver for Change

For many businesses, technology can be both the enemy and the enabler. There is a long-standing argument that businesses that are “born” digital pose a real threat to larger established enterprises as they have the agility to evolve quicker and adapt to market forces and the changing needs of customers. However, a report has found that large enterprises are adopting emerging technologies up to five times faster than small companies. The issue for businesses of all sizes is that they must stay ahead of the curve when it comes to digital transformation to compete and maintain a competitive advantage in the long term.

As with most change, this presents a huge opportunity for businesses that can innovate and go on this journey, adopting the latest technology in a secure and compliant way to drive productivity and better serve customers. Those that digitally innovate will keep pace and win in their respective markets.

75% of CEOS currently feel this pressure to digitally transform. The truth is that only the most agile companies, whether small or big, will be able to ride the digital transformation wave. To survive, one must look at technology as not only solving an immediate need but also maximising the long-term potential.

 

Digital Transformation and the Service Provider

It’s no longer a case of buying a solution to meet a specific need. Technology needs to work harder to meet multiple needs and deliver a larger return on investment over a longer period. Long-term success for both you and your solutions provider depends on what more they can offer you in terms of outcomes.

For the providers, it’s no longer a case of matching a solution, making the sale and ending the relationship there. Solutions providers need to be the driving force of change. It’s less about the technology-led initiative and more about solution-led strategies that future-proof and grow the value of a business. Driving incremental changes will allow businesses to do more with the same or fewer resources.

To achieve this, your solutions provider should adapt their sales process to your business journey with an interlinked growth strategy.

 

How to Ensure a Successful Partnership

 

Map Desired Outcomes from the Outset

To compete today, the four key areas that will help businesses become more successful are being more productive, secure, agile and communicating better. The unified communications market is growing 5% per year as businesses recognise this. Global spending on IT services is also expected to reach a record high of 1.4 trillion U.S dollars by 2021. But many digital transformation projects fail because companies aren’t integrating their business and technology strategies from the start. If you are to transform your business operations, you must work with your provider to develop a clear understanding of existing pain points and long-term goals.

Think about your current struggles and challenges. Maybe your customer call centre isn’t performing as efficiently as it could, perhaps multiple offices need to find a way of communicating better following a merger, or are you looking to gain better insights from your data? Be clear and take the time to really delve into the heart of the business challenges, providing as much detail to your solutions partner as possible.

 

Ensure the Deliverables Will Match Your Desired Outcomes

Whether it’s seamlessly integrating mobile devices into the network or enhanced communication tools for effective remote working, it’s important to look at how the technology fits in with the business goals and strategy. When discussing the solutions, focus on the benefits rather than the features-for example, how will this help us to save time? How can we use this to collaborate better? Which solutions will make us more productive? The best combination of tools for one organisation will differ massively from the next. Your solutions provider should focus on solutions that will help your business to be at its most successful.

It’s essential not just to look at technology solutions in digital transformation projects. Often new technologies fail to improve productivity, not because of technology, but because the cultural impact of that technology has not been properly considered. It may be that you haven’t yet made the full leap to transforming the business culture, and this is where the solutions provider can offer valuable people training. Workforce engagement has a direct impact on productivity. Hence, it’s also important to be mindful of the need to migrate business operations in a way that works for employees, so that they can implement change in a positive way.

 

Set Up Measurement to Monitor the Outcome and Consistently Improve

In the relationship between your business and provider, transparency, along with delivery, is crucial. You should work with your partner to develop KPIs that enable them to verify and further enhance the value that the solutions bring. To measure this success, the focus should not only be on technological performance, but also the impact of your operational and business performance. To ensure that the solution meets the promise, ask your provider for regular updates and ensure that they can come up with corrective actions if any of them are not performing as they should.

 

Only an Equal Partner Will Determine Success

When it comes to growth, you must look at new ways to change things, and this is no more apparent than with digital innovation. Digital transformation is a technology-enabled tidal wave that is changing businesses every day. The one certainty is that only an equal partnership between an innovation solutions provider and your business will help you successfully navigate the predictably unpredictable challenges along the way. It’s about finding forward-thinking solutions that adapt to the growing needs of your business to ensure that you can compete successfully, both now and in the future.

 

 

Matt Newing is a self-made entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist who’s always on the lookout for the latest and greatest business opportunities. If you have a business that needs taking to the next level, get in touch with Matt today.