Monday, September 23, 2013

Why Vertical and Horizontal Integration of Business Technology is Imperative?

Technology is arguably the tool that has enabled global business to reach the level it’s at today. We as a population have created devices, applications and networks that present nearly limitless potential when it comes to providing products and services. Communication within business is at a place it’s never been before.
However, our economy is also competitive, with each entity vying to gain traction on the next. Most successful businesses have state of the art technology, so it’s not a matter of who has what, but how they utilize those resources to be successful in a particular market niche.
It all boils down to how well a company integrates technology both horizontally and vertically throughout its structure. The more multidimensional an employee base is with regards to technology utilization, the better off the company will be in this society. From there, people can do their jobs most effectively and better help the customer receive and enjoy the offered product or service.
Below are the ways that widespread knowledge of a company’s technology amongst employees can help a business, and how tech influences operations overall.

Customer communication
Technology helps businesses communicate with customers and create transparency. In today’s world people want to know how a business is doing things, why they’re doing them that way and how quickly they’re executing. This creates a natural demand for technology that enables all business areas to communicate with the customers and partners being dealt with on the front line.
If employees in the financial department of a large corporation understand when the batch processing in the data center happens each week, they can better explain billing delays and similar situations to customers. The same goes for all departments across any company. If one business sector understands the technology in another unit, the efficiency of that particular frontline in their experiences with customers and each other will go much more smoothly.

Capability of operations
Technology is the oil that has made operations across the international economy run so well, and it’s no different on a micro level within a business. The more an employee base knows about technology, both vertically and horizontally across a company, the better they understand the operation as a whole. A team is best when all players know each other’s skillset, and the same goes for a business. If the marketing department understands what software development projects the IT professionals work on each day, everything makes more sense.

Business atmosphere
Technology integrated at all levels of a business creates an atmosphere that’s just better for everyone. If business executives in the headquarters can communicate instantaneously with the factory supplier two states away, clarity is inherently a priority in business procedure and people are more comfortable with one another. It used to be sufficient for a representative to speak and communicate for an entire department, but it really doesn’t work that way anymore. All touch points of a business need to relate to one another to create a forum-type atmosphere. Technology does this.
Most thriving businesses have technology, but it’s what they do with it that separates them and creates something special. The more intricately a company’s tech is orientated throughout the business model, the greater success it will find in this marketplace.

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