The future is digital, but that doesn’t have to be scary! The integration of digital technology into all areas of a business can fundamentally change how you operate and deliver value to customers. It’s also a cultural change that requires organisations to continually challenge the existing processes, experiment, and get comfortable with failure.

What are digital systems?

Digital systems are the online tools we use every single day. Many of us use digital systems but aren’t specialised or confident in how they work or what they can do. A lot of people end up wasting valuable time writing things out, filling in forms, printing off contracts and application forms, arranging appointments, filing receipts, etc. Most companies already have systems in place for these tasks to be automated or sped up but aren’t familiar enough with the software.

How can technology improve productivity?

Different digital systems can significantly boost the productivity of your workforce. They can:

• improve communication throughout the business.

• make it easier for employees to connect, even those who work from home.

• allow cooperation between various teams or areas of the business.

• increase employee engagement and motivation.

• help you keep track of performance and progress toward reaching set goals.

How do I know if I’m using digital systems right?

It’s important to reflect on your experience of using digital systems to make sure they’re helping, rather than hindering you.

• Does it make your IT easier to use? Are you freeing up resources, reducing costs by rationalising and consolidating IT assets, improving efficiency by using virtualisation and automation, and making progress towards your business goals?

• Is it modernising your business? Is it easier to send and store information? Easier to communicate across teams and areas? More interactive?

• Is it protecting our IT? Do you manage risk better and fix weaknesses in legacy systems through the systems? Are you strengthening IT, improving your security framework, and making your business more resistant to cyber threats?

If you answered yes to each section, you’re doing splendidly! If not, then it’s important to make sure all your employees are well-trained and aware of the risks.

What are the benefits of digital systems?

There is a large range of benefits to digital systems, depending on the business.

INCREASED COLLABORATION WITHIN THE WORKFORCE

All employees in the company should work together towards a shared goal, and this involves encouraging employee engagement. This requires putting together teams from different areas with different knowledge bases and positions, engaging in knowledge sharing, building trust, and promoting transparency. One way of doing this could be using Microsoft Teams so that there can be quick and easy communication between different departments and within teams.

EFFICIENT CLOUD-BASED SYSTEMS

Cloud-based services are agile and economical, and straightforward. This allows businesses to choose the services that meet their exact needs and streamline their IT and infrastructure costs. These cloud-based systems allow for better accessibility and monitoring of business processes. For example, if they need HR help, there are services such as BreatheHR and Sympa. For finances, Xero is a safe and secure cloud accounting service. It might be sharing documents and data that you’d want to improve, so would opt for a system such as Office 365 and its Onedrive. These types of systems and office networks can have a significant impact on how the workplace flows. This is an important factor in digital transformation. It allows for better accessibility and monitoring of business processes.

USING A CRM TO KEEP ORGANISED AND ON TOP OF TASKS

A CRM replaces the copious amounts of spreadsheets, databases and apps that many businesses patch together to track client data. CRM stands for “Customer Relationship Management” and is a software system that helps business owners easily track all communications and nurture relationships with their leads and clients. The result: organisation, efficiency, better time management, and happy clients. A CRM consolidates all communications (form fills, calls, emails, text messages, meetings), documents, quotes, purchases, and tasks associated with each lead and client for the business to access.

The important thing to remember is that these digital systems apply to all industries, whether you’re in marketing, care work, education, or even construction.

With the world of technology changing so fast, especially with businesses moving to the cloud, staff working within these digital technologies need increasing levels of knowledge and skills. Our professional development apprenticeship programmes provide an upskill opportunity to train your staff or recruit new staff to maximise the use of internal digital systems, develop and maintain your organisation’s data and understand security risks.