Innovative technologies are changing the world (and business). Since most businesses pushed to more virtual ways of doing business in the past few years, more and more stats linking business success to technology are being released. The data shows plainly that companies who are actively taking modernizing their IT infrastructure (aka digital transformation) are reaping the benefits.
We’re focusing on five of them to illustrate just how wide the gap between top technology-adopting leaders and stragglers can be.
1. Modern Information Technology Equals Higher Earnings Growth
There are several common reasons why small businesses hold on to legacy IT, and one of the most common is the reluctance to spend more money than what is actually necessary to keep the wheels turning. True, small businesses usually suffer for resources, but the prioritization of IT is becoming one of the most vital. That’s because those who invest in modern information technology achieve growth that is 1.8 times higher than those who don’t, according to a BCG study of more than 200 companies.
To sum into one sentence, the money spent on modernizing IT infrastructure is guaranteed to deliver high returns over time, paving the way for sustained success.
2. Digitally Transformed Organizations Have More Satisfied Customers
The ability to deliver a first-rate customer experience is at the heart of every successful business, and customer expectations are growing every day. Before the world of business was nearly forced to virtualized back in 2020, customers understood if a company had little or no online ability. But now, it’s almost assumed that a company can reliably email and has some kind of customer tracking tools, so they get better and faster service as they repeat their business.
The fact that so many companies have already made the jump to more sophisticated digital transformation strategies certainly contributes to the steady growth of customer expectations. Now small businesses need to catch up.
Those who focus on improving the customer experience through digital transformation can generate a 20%–30% increase in customer satisfaction, as revealed by McKinsey. High customer satisfaction means greater customer loyalty and that means more sales.
3. Major Productivity Gains Can Be Unlocked by Digital Technology
Around 70% of employees who work in fully-enabled digital workplaces report a positive impact on their productivity, and roughly as many admitted to improved collaboration thanks to digital technologies. These statistics come from an Aruba study of 7,000 employees across 15 countries revealed, entitled The Right Technologies Unlock the Potential of the Digital Workplace. And much of the reason is the ongoing move towards a paperless office and the hybrid work model.
4. Organizations That Use Cloud Computing Report Increased Efficiency
Public, private, and hybrid cloud solutions can be used to modify existing business processes. 48% of those who take advantage of them say that increased efficiency is the biggest benefit they get from cloud computing.
There are quite a few ways how cloud computing can make an organization more efficient. For example, it can make data more accessible, allowing employees to extract value from it using a variety of different tools. Cloud computing can also bring instant scalability to any organization, enabling it to dynamically scale its IT resources up or down based on the current demand.
5. Information Technology Modernization Protects Against Cyber Threats
You can’t build a castle on sand. And you definitely can’t build a strong cybersecurity foundation on an old infrastructure.
End-of-life hardware and software is virtually impossible to properly secure without completely isolating it from the internet. Why? Because such hardware and software no longer receive support, which means that vulnerabilities don’t get fixed to prevent cybercriminals from exploiting them.
On average, cyber attacks cost small businesses in the United States $25,612 per incident, according to the Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report 2021, so every business should strive to strengthen its defenses, and upgrading legacy systems is a must.
Information Technology Transformation Conundrum
The statistics above speak for themselves: information technology modernization pays off. But there’s one conundrum all organizations that decide to embark on a digital transformation journey have to tackle: 70% of transformation efforts fail.
The reasons why vary, but they almost always include lack of experience and poor planning. To increase their chance of success, organizations need to partner with an experienced IT provider. The cost of partnering with a company to employ best practices and help guide the changes are nothing compared to the cost of failure and needing to reimplement everything. Contact us today if you’re interested in learning the best way to transform your business’s technology.