Glasgow for business week special report - Ones and zeros add up

Thursday 6 September 2012

Any modern business that wants to be competitive and successful cannot afford to ignore digital technology.

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Maggie Stanfield

If there's one aspect of running a business that seems to change almost every day, it's the world of digital technology.

Yet the strategic use of digital technology is mission critical. No business, whatever its size, can afford to ignore the impact of these paradigm shifts. While big corporations buy in the expertise, smaller operators, right down to sole proprietors, have to get to grips with what these technologies can do for their businesses.

And when it's not your core skill, when you'd much prefer to be designing fabrics or making films, then finding the right experts to explain the background becomes even more vital.During Digital Glasgow on Monday and Tuesday (October 8 and 9), keynote speakers and breakout workshops will cover the big issues involved in developing, implementing and managing a successful digital strategy for building sustained growth and competitiveness.The practical, business-led approach means you don't need to be an IT expert to understand the messages. Nor will attendees be subject to any selling. The focus will be on knowledge dissemination and management education. These speakers and events will demystify technology, empowering businesses to close the gap between the tools and business strategy.Dr Jim Hamill is Business Fellow at the University of Strathclyde Business School and joint Owner/Director, along with Alan Stevenson, of Social Business Strategy company, Energise 2.0. He is concerned that not all businesses are making the important next step into the social business model: "There's a perception of social media as mainly about communications, marketing and PR. That's fine, but the social business aspects are much more generic. "This is about making the whole organisation more social; more outward looking, encouraging two-way conversation with customers and within the organisation. It's not about the technology in itself but about how you use those tools to meet your objectives."Dr Hamill accepts that this process of building forward from social media to social business is not necessarily a natural or organic one. However, he argues, the shift is essential in this new era of social customers: "There's a power shift from suppliers to customers and they are increasingly social in how they do things. They look for guidance in customer reviews and from friends on Facebook."Trip Advisor has set in motion an online forum that shares views without moderation and businesses are increasingly subject to that kind of facility. Whether it's an overseas student comparing Scottish MBA courses or someone looking for a digital camera, there is unlimited access to information.This accessibility puts pressure on pricing. Dr Hamill says: "Try not to put yourself in a position where you compete only on price. Value, good service and the building of strong customer relations through your social networks is important in this context."Many of us are intimidated by the concept of IT but smaller businesses are not going to be able to buy in expertise. While it may not be your core skill, as a business owner or manager, you need to grasp how technology can help build your business: "The technology itself is secondary and it's not rocket science," adds Dr Hamill. "The important thing is how you can achieve your business objectives; think about your pain points, what keeps you awake at night, your barriers to growth. Once you have identified those, you get the technology to deal with them."This is especially important in terms of how that technology can break down the barriers for Glasgow businesses to become more international in their outlook."While there is lots of generic good advice available, knowing how to use technology properly is crucial in overcoming a lot of these barriers and can accelerate businesses in moving into export markets pro-actively, rather than waiting for orders to come in."Many of us are already operating these technologies in the Cloud without even being conscious of it. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, KILTR, Hotmail, Googlemail, iPads, Smart phones, all use Cloud technologies. Dr Hamill says Cloud development is a revolution that is going to see us abandoning big PC towers, discs and the problem of having access to your documents from just one desktop computer: "This is going to grow massively both for consumers and within organisations. No more will there be the need for massive, expensive hard disc memory or big commercial software packages to manage areas like customer relations."This is, says Dr Hamill, going to demand the development of new working practises."Someone asked me for my CV recently and I said 'why do you need that? Just follow my LinkedIn entry. All the information is there," he says. "The thrust of these two days is less about the tools and more about making them work."

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Glasgow for business week special report - Ones and zeros add up

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