Information technology influences every part of a company’s business processes and the decision-making and strategic planning that go into an organization’s success. From marketing and sales to HR and product and service R&D, from supply chain and inventory management to accounting, every one of the core business processes is influenced and impacted by your IT standards and infrastructure.
Small-business owners struggled in the past with their IT infrastructure due to the cost, scope, and complexity of the hardware and software systems in play. With the rise of the cloud and advancements in AI-driven automation, traditional methods of IT management are being replaced by offsite artificial intelligence. Small businesses don’t need to set up large data centers, hire as many professionals, or invest in as much on-site protection anymore.
This rising level of access to IT solutions that drive productivity and profitability opens the door for small-business owners and startups who are struggling to integrate IT solutions and improve efficiency and performance across their own business processes.
What is information technology?
Information technology, at its core, refers to how businesses leverage the software and hardware in conjunction with technology-based service providers, in-house infrastructure, and contracted service providers to deliver information, data, voice communications, video content, and other forms of communication to both internal stakeholders and external customers.
Information technology in a broader sense extends beyond the systems and software to the development of mobile and web applications, the creation of websites, the management and processing of data, and data storage management. Combined, these elements in information technology (IT) form a layer in the sphere of information and communications technology.
Role of information technology in business processes
Information technology extends across business processes like a mesh that holds your organization together. It impacts performance and connects teams in ways that allow day-to-day operations to flow smoothly while also facilitating communication with customers. Excluding the c-suite, let’s break down the major business processes that exist within most organizations and how each is impacted by information technology.
Marketing
Information technology is the engine that drives modern marketing strategies. Technology solutions help businesses identify and effectively reach their target audience, as well as automate email campaigns, social media posts, and other repetitive tasks. Data-focused analytics depend on AI-driven marketing platforms that provide leadership with the insight necessary to make accurate and informed business decisions.
IT for marketing comes in the form of digital marketing tools, customer relationship management (CRM) platforms, and tools used to manage social media and search engine advertising.
Sales
The sales process has become increasingly complex and requires multiple touch points throughout the customer journey in order to drive conversions. IT provides automation for email, appointment scheduling, lead tracking, customer engagement through chatbots, and helping your sales team ultimately improve lead engagement.
Technologies that support your sales process include lead scoring tools, booking software, live chat tools, email automation platforms, lead management tools, and other software platforms designed to automate and manage the sales process.
Operations management
Operations management is the central nervous system of your organization, ensuring each department is aligned with your business goals. The IT infrastructure that supports operations management improves service and product delivery and maximizes pipeline velocity in the service channel. IT also helps to improve productivity, mitigates risk for the organization, focuses on a stable user experience with minimal downtime, and introduces workflow automation across teams that help identify gaps in the IT infrastructure.
IT services and software that aid a business in operations management include platforms for strategic planning, service operation, help desk, project management, and strategic planning.
Finance
Finance is a business process that has seen a complete transformation due to information technology. IT automation and advanced analytics combined with improved data quality have allowed shifts in accounting practices to emerge such as continuous accounting. This live tracking and reconciliation approach to accounting introduces efficiencies and insights that provide leadership with the necessary financial information to make informed decisions.
Accounting information systems (AIS) are one of the main solutions leveraged in the accounting IT sphere. AIS platforms collect, process, and correlate financial data, which can then be used by accountants, analysts, leadership, and auditors and regulatory bodies.
Human resources
Information technology leveraged by human resource specialists streamline and simplify the hiring process and helps to improve engagement and retention of existing employees. In addition to workforce management tools, HR technology improves payroll processes and removes redundancies in HR processes. Combined with accounting and operations platforms, HR software tools can project staffing needs and identify gaps, helping leadership make crucial hiring decisions.
There are three major types of software platforms leveraged by HR specialists.
- Human resource information systems (HRIS) help increase efficiency and productivity across primary HR responsibilities.
- Human resource management systems (HRMS) offer more services than HRIS systems and include a focus on attendance tracking and automation of onboarding workflows.
- Human capital management (HCM) systems focus more on employee experience and performance, satisfaction, and retention.
How has information technology helped businesses grow?
Limited cash flow and resources might have small businesses and startups reluctant to fully embrace information technology solutions across the entire breadth of the organization. In fact, when asked about growth in UpCity’s 2023 Small Business Attributes Survey conducted among business leaders working at companies with 1 to 250 employees, only 14% of survey respondents said information technology (IT) was their company’s top priority function when they first began expanding.*
According to Gartner, chief information officers (CIO) and other members of leadership looking to optimize their business performance by automating certain tasks across departments, improving employee productivity, or enhancing the customer experience, must focus internally to optimize their IT operating model towards service. [1]
It’s important for businesses to realize, then, that because information technology increases data flow, improves contact and lead management, and streamlines operations, there are downstream benefits that help facilitate sustainable growth.
Enhances communication
An expansive and cohesive IT infrastructure allows for unified communications across channels and departments for internal stakeholders. It becomes easier to keep track of a lead’s place in the customer journey with the right CRM solutions in place. For customers, integrated communication across platforms and departments improves the customer experience, reinforces trust in your organization, and helps improve your reputation.
Boosts marketing efforts
A robust marketing technology stack can allow even the smallest organizations to project their marketing efforts in ways that can compete with even the largest of competitors. Between automation tools used in-house and the expertise and expansion in technology skills and resources made possible by partnering with a marketing agency, small businesses can launch complex marketing campaigns that will quickly help them capture more leads and expand market share in their niche.
Improves decision making
Business leaders are increasingly dependent upon fast access to relevant data and metrics. You might have the staff skilled enough to collate and find meaning in the massive amount of data coming in from social media, marketing, and other channels. However, a unified IT solution across departments can ensure leadership has access to relevant insights for each aspect of the business necessary in the strategic planning process in a timely enough manner to make informed business decisions quickly.
Benefits overall business strategies
Information technology solutions change the way business owners approach strategic planning, providing important risk mitigation solutions, tactics for aligning initiatives with business objectives, and access to powerful tools to achieve innovation.
Improves protection and mitigates risk
Cyberattacks became a threat to companies of all sizes. The extent of damage that a single hacker can incur can be devastating. To protect against this possibility, an organization must take swift action. By implementing information technology support in a company’s business processes, you can direct resources toward cybersecurity initiatives including security upgrades, employee training, disaster planning, and data recovery. This helps to offset and mitigate risk, allowing the business to embrace IT solutions with the knowledge that there’s a plan in place to prevent or reduce the impact of a data breach or cyberattack.
Enhancing the impact of strategic planning
Small-business owners should be intentional with the IT infrastructure they choose to incorporate into their operation. Every piece of hardware and software in use should support and enhance the organization’s ability to achieve overall business objectives. The insights and efficiencies that come with a properly structured IT infrastructure make it possible for business owners to see gaps in their performance and identify solutions that they can effectively track the performance of, ensuring they’ve landed on the right fix for the problem they were facing.
Drives innovation in ongoing strategic initiatives
Without the extended capabilities made possible by IT software platforms and infrastructure, your business will struggle to establish any sort of strategic advantage over competitors who are using IT to improve their operations. IT infrastructure and software solutions introduce innovative and fresh solutions to modern business challenges while helping small businesses maintain their culture and vision.
Minimizes cost by boosting productivity
Because it’s a controllable cost on the profit and loss sheet, labor costs will always be a focus for business leaders looking to improve their bottom line. For small-business owners especially, the mantra over time has become, “Do more with less.”
From an IT perspective, incorporating department spanning IT solutions and leveraging automation software in key areas of the business ensures that a smaller team will be able to perform in a much more efficient and productive manner than a team without a solution in place. Third-party agencies leverage IT solutions in much the same way to show their clients that results can be achieved affordably in order to prove the value of their services.
Improves customer relationship
The modern consumer has high expectations when it comes to engagement and receiving timely responses to inquiries. They’ve become used to companies using IT-based solutions to offer 24/7 responsiveness to service requests and appointment scheduling. IT solutions become a must for businesses not looking to break the bank hiring around-the-clock customer service representatives, but still wanting to at least be able to provide answers, schedule follow-ups, fulfill orders, and provide basic information about products and services.
When customers come to realize that a business has the IT infrastructure in place to support and nurture a relationship with them, they will tend to not only trust your brand to meet their needs as long-term customers, but also be more likely to refer your brand to their networks in person and over social media.
How you can leverage information technology services
Not all organizations understand how the appropriate spend in IT translates into improved KPIs and business performance. In fact, according to Gartner, only 22% can attribute their spending in IT process standardization to business performance results effectively. [2]
Partnering with a knowledgeable and experienced service provider you discover through UpCity’s IT Services Providers directory can help track and attribute performance improvements properly, helping justify a long-term relationship with a third-party agency to leadership.
Embrace information technology solutions for future success
The IT services industry is massive, valued at over $1.25 trillion worldwide in 2023, and anticipated to continue to grow in the coming years, largely due to the value that IT service providers are able to offer business owners. [3] If you’re a small business owner still on the fence about bringing about an expert service provider, or want to know more before you contract with a provider from our directory above, you can check out these UpCity resources:
Sources
- Craft Meaningful Business Value Statements and SLAs for Your IT Service Portfolio, Gartner
- Executive Essentials: Demonstrate the Business Value of IT, Gartner
- IT Services General Managers Must Innovate Business and Operating Models to Mobilize for Growth, Gartner
Survey Methodology
*UpCity’s 2023 Small Business Attributes Survey was conducted in October 2023 among 400 respondents to learn more about the characteristics that epitomize U.S. small businesses. Respondents were screened for leadership positions of Vice President or above at companies with 1 to 250 employees.