These changes though are nowhere near the biggest I have seen in our business. The progression and requirements for I.T. systems within our industry and UK business as a whole fits this bill. We really are in the technology age and the technological demands from consumers intensifies year on year.
It's interesting to see how computers have taken over the most menial of tasks while at the same time social networking is beginning to exert its influence over how we interact from a business perspective. Businesses have to avoid being at the wrong end of a 'twitterstorm' at all costs, as seen with the recent Jan Moir (Daily Mail) / Stephen Gateley story. News of a bad product offering can also quickly spread through the use of social networking. As was seen with the original release of the Blackberry Storm, which received a 'not too glowing' informal review from a celebrity who had a massive twitter following.From a sales and marketing perspective we are starting to see some very clever use of social networking. None more so than the recent Ikea campaign. They used Facebook's picture tagging facility to quickly spread the word about a new store opening as well as advertising the brand as a whole. I would urge you to take 2 minutes out of your day to go and view THIS VIDEO which shows the immense power at our fingertips.
Social networking, I believe, remains in its infancy with its true impact yet to be seen. The next step along the way may well be Google's wave application which I have had the pleasure of using. The possibilities, from a business perspective, are incredible for this simple yet powerful tool. This is especially true in the B2B environment. Imagine being able to host a focus group with your top customers or a brainstorming session with your colleagues very simply, no matter where in the world they are. I wait with baited breath for the full version release.
Major retailers are no longer major retailers unless they have a fully interactive and simple to use website. Businesses, or more truthfully brand names, are also getting a second lease of life; as we have seen with the recent acquisition of the Woolworths' brand name and website only offering. In the B2B environment the demands are increasing at a rapid rate, with a more pronounced requirement for innovation as well as simplicity.
For our own business we've had to react to the increased I.T. demands over the past 12 months and acknowledge that to truly gain competitive advantage we must be at the forefront of technological development. I make it sound easy don't I? It is anything but. As well as the design and development of new web technologies we have to continually consider the suitability of our entire infrastructure and ensure it remains fast, efficient and most importantly secure and safe. Every simple change you see on any website (especially those you visit regularly) has several knock on effects into different I.T. areas.
We initially outsourced all of our I.T. work. Oh, wonderful hindsight! Despite every promise at the beginning of every I.T. project, even when they were in writing, we still found ourselves over budget, behind deadlines and failing to deliver. I strongly recommend that any SME weighs up the possibility of employing their own development team while considering their I.T. options.
In the past we were a tenant referencing and insurances provider, with a sidelined, sub-contracted I.T. provision. These days we have recognised that the centre of our business is, in essence, an I.T. company. An I.T. company that we must have control over. So for the first time this year we employed our own I.T. team and the difference to date is remarkable. We have some pretty amazing changes coming early in the new year - on time, in budget and innovative.
I.T. in our industry will be one of the key 'battlegrounds' where customers will be won or lost over the coming years. Even this blog in an interim solution until our new website is launched early next year, we strive to keep improving. But our 'army' is not quite as well equipped as our bigger competitors, which means that we have to work smarter. Much like Google did in the early days; but it is a challenge we are more than happy to take on.
Just as a pure coincidence Steve has just introduced me to the newest of our I.T. developers, another forward thinker for the team!
Posted by George
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