Technology adoption can be a major issue for many businesses, mostly due to the variable costs of adding new technologies to a business’ cache of technology tools. For smaller businesses, adding new technologies that will allow them to compete with larger businesses can be even more difficult. Let’s take a look at the adoption gap between larger businesses and smaller businesses and why they are having a hard time closing it.
Explaining the Adoption Gap
There are several new technologies that, if your business has the capital to adopt, can help improve efficiency, boost collaboration, and keep your business much more secure. Large enterprises, with all the capital they need to implement any technology they can, are actually pretty shrewd about the technology they implement. The reason is that every time they roll out some new technology, it’s a big deal. There are a lot of costs, hirings, but not so much in the way of restructuring their operational strategy, until they know the technology is something that is going to work for their whole enterprise.
For the smaller business, the reins are tightened substantially. If there is going to be a technology investment made it better work to do what it claims it will do. Otherwise, it has a real chance to hurt the overall effectiveness of the business. Both types of businesses have legitimate access to all the trending technologies, but only the enterprise can learn and explore the technology while still operating without restrictions. Despite the availability of the technology, the gap between what a small or mid-sized company can do and what an enterprise can do is widening.
This gap, although growing, pales in comparison to the gap between companies that operate in the mid market versus the very small businesses. Chances are if you run a business with under 50 employees, there is technology you use that would just be a red flag at any company that is larger. If you run a very small business, say under 20 employees, you probably still have a fair amount of analog processes. These processes may work fine for the small business, but because of the cost, they will never be able to find out whether innovative new tools that larger businesses are using can actually work for them.
One consideration is how businesses come through the COVID-19 pandemic. If your business had to invest in technology to support your newly-removed workforce, you probably are going to continue to use that technology. This means that you will be supporting remote workers and it will change the way you look at your future IT investments. Whether that be creating a secure cloud platform, or investing in applications already hosted through providers. Purchasing new technologies to do the same old work in a different way is frustrating, sure, but in lieu of the situation, those investments probably kept your company in business. Either way, for businesses that have to react with their IT budget, implementing some innovative technologies probably is going to be difficult.
What Are Some of These Technologies?
Some of the technologies that are being implemented in the enterprise space are really cutting edge. They include:
- Artificial intelligence
- Human resources technology
- Software unification
- Advanced cybersecurity
- Advanced automation
The thing these tools have in common is that they work to reduce costs and help with operational efficiency. Every business could benefit from more efficient operations, but many of these tools, even if they are integrated into simple applications, will largely escape the smallest businesses. If you consider that three-of-four businesses plan to increase their IT spending in 2021 in the hopes of cutting their costs, you have to wonder what businesses, faced with the reality that technology will help stabilize expenses, are not looking to implement new IT? It’s safe to say that the majority of that 25 percent simply can’t afford it.
What Can You Do If Adding Technology Isn’t In the Cards?
If your organization simply can’t add technology this year, you can always forge ahead by using the technology you do have properly. You will want to invest in training your people on the best practices of using the technology you have. This will enhance efficiency and productivity, and go a long way toward keeping your network and data secure. You will want to ensure that you invest in a backup system that will protect the data and IT resources your organization uses. Finally, you will want to ensure that your technology is being properly maintained to help reduce hardware failure and data breaches.
For small business owners, implementing the right technology can be a challenge. If you would like to talk to one of our knowledgeable IT professionals about how to properly prioritize your IT investments to get the most bang for your buck, call us today at 978-798-6805.
