Maximizing ROI on Technology Investments

Evaluate Your Business Needs To Maximize ROI

Each day old technology continually becomes antiquated and new technology enters the market. The digital age has empowered people with more flexibility with schooling, and other opportunities such as gaining online certifications and work experience, creating more positions that need to spend less time tied to an office.

As a business owner, it can be challenging to know which technology is worth funding. This is particularly true for small companies, where resources are restricted and mistakes are significant. Investing in the right technology can help companies stay ahead of their contenders. However, spending too much capital on technology that does not live up to its potential can hinder a small business.

A significant portion of the top technology goals business owners have for 2020 include growing their IT security, managing, and handling data effectively, and enhancing their current technology. A way to accomplish these goals and appreciate the value that new technology can provide is to assess its Return On Investment. By quantifying the cost and anticipated benefit of that new technology. Here are four ways small businesses can evaluate which new technologies will render the best ROI for their thriving businesses.

Perform Market Research

When making a big monetary decision regarding technology, the primary step business owners should take is to take the time to perform market research on new technologies It’s important to understand precisely what that technology is capable of doing and how much it will cost (not only the primary costs but the expenses of support and training as well). Then business owners must assess whether or not their company could truly benefit from integrating that innovative technology to maximize ROI on your IT investment.

Too often, companies jump on the bandwagon of the latest technology when their business doesn’t really require what that technology affords. Examining the capabilities of new technologies with other businesses who already utilize them is one effective way for business owners to thoroughly know if their company has a need for that particular technology.

Assess Advantages

When investing in modern technology, it’s necessary to know all the advantages it can render. One way to understand if your purchase of new technology is worth it is to contemplate how it improves these three determinants: downtime, productivity, and value.

Downtime, whether for representatives, websites, or other industry tools, can cause companies to lose capital and lower the business’s overall performance. Technology that can reduce your company’s downtime by serving to keep your servers from crashing or reducing the wait-time for your representatives as they accomplish tasks can be a worthy investment. Productivity is really essential for small businesses as they try to develop.

Investing in technology that will help representatives do more work in less quantity of time is important for small companies. A big barrier for small businesses is having enough support, specifically money. Technology that lowers the spending of your small business and works efficiently is also worth funding. However, once you have that funding locked in it becomes easy to maximize ROI on your investment.

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Consider Your Team’s Feedback

As a business owner or as an individual in charge of making judgments about new technology for a company, it is imperative that you discuss differences with the representatives who will be influenced by your implementation of novel technology.

Prior to making a purchase, talk with your employees about the needs of their department. Work with them to evaluate your current technology to see what areas it is functioning well in and where it is lacking. Include your employees in your search for newer, updated technology. By involving the people who will use and be influenced by new technology, you will be able to invest in the technology that’s best for your business and maximize ROI of your new technology investment.

If this step is not implemented you run the risk of adding new technology to your portfolio that does not actually suit your business. This can be a massive sunk cost that becomes very challenging to recover from.

Take a Trial Run

Once you have innovative technology in mind for your business, buy into having a test run for that technology. This will give you and your representatives the chance to explore a new technology before making a final investment. At the end of your trial session, sit down with your representatives, and assess the technology’s advantages and imperfections together.

Consider the feedback of your representatives before moving forward to acquire that technology. Taking advantage of technology trials will help you to get the most out of the technology you invest in. By working with the technology you intend to purchase ahead of time you gain the ability to truly flesh out all of the pros and cons of the investment. When you truly know what you are getting into it gives you and your company the ability to maximize ROI on any transaction you implement.

This is also a fantastic time to make sure that this technology will continue to have development and support. New technologies are expensive and there are not a lot of issues in business that are worse for wear than losing valuable technology to a company going out of business or no longer providing updates.

While you are making your final choice, consider the overall reputation of the producer of the company. Questions like, how long has the company been in business, what are other companies saying about them? Do we see them staying in business long enough for us to maximize ROI? While we always like to wish the best to those that help us, it is important for small businesses to be honest and realistic with this assessment. Sometimes this investment is not consistent enough to justify purchasing new technology and it becomes a better idea to locate a telecom consulting agency or outsourcing agency in order to have that work done remotely.

Technology is Key for Scaling Companies + Staying Ahead of Adversaries

Taking the time to assess the ROI of various technologies is fundamental for any business wishing to grow and stay connected. By researching new technology, assessing its benefits, discussing your team members, and doing a trial run when considering implementing new technology, company owners can invest in the right technology that is the best option for their businesses.