Digital Improvements to Help Business

As face-to-face interaction across industries has become less commonplace, even more of business is moving online. It will be time well spent to assess your digital infrastructure and identify what might help your business. Whether you are a startup or have been in business for quite some time, consider taking a step back to evaluate this aspect of your company.

In this article, we offer initial considerations and the beginning of a checklist to assist you in assessing and improving your digital operations.

Make Time for Digital Assessment and Improvements

You can’t improve what you don’t take time to identify. Dedicate time to evaluate digital improvements that may help your business. If this feels too big to address in one sitting, designate a series of realistic blocks of time to evaluate your situation (though don’t space these time blocks too far apart or you may spend the bulk of your time recapping what has already been assessed).

Take A Critical Objective Look at Your Business

Take a critical, objective look at your business. Use a digital lens as you evaluate the digital state of your business. Identify where it is current and robust, and where it is outdated or unaddressed. If your business has different departments, ask them for a shortlist of possible areas where the business may be lacking and suggested improvements or include representatives from each.

Your first pass may reveal what you and your team have known all along, but have not yet addressed. It may also point out where competitors are stronger or weaker. This assessment is less about creating a long exhaustive list and more about identifying what might be improved.

Prioritize Your Digital Needs

Next, prioritize your digital needs. At this point, don’t feel obligated to come up with solutions. Also, realize not everything identified needs to be addressed. It’s helpful to identify any issues or areas for improvement in order to begin to prioritize and upgrade your digital situation. Once identified and prioritized, it’s easier to pursue realistic, manageable solutions that will help your business most.

Confirm Who You Are and What Is Your Business

Confirm who you are, what your brand stands for, and what is your core business. Try your best to be objective and constructively critical. This helps in two ways:

1. Every improvement you pursue should relate directly back to supporting your business.
2. If improvements have an impact on consumer-facing, customer-facing, or corporate culture/identity, they should be made with your brand in mind.

Be judicious regarding what you choose to pursue. Avoid bells and whistles that do not directly affect your business.

Armed with your prioritized evaluation and a confirmation of how potential improvement relate directly to your business, you can better assess what resources and investment may be required. Then, you can begin to address and improve your business accordingly.

Additional Resources

There are as many ways to assess your digital presence and implement digital improvements to help business. If you are looking for NoMad resources to help support your digital efforts, below is a list of businesses in the neighborhood who can offer their expertise and services. There are always new developments in technology and these firms can alert you to solutions you may not be aware of.

Bluewolf

Bluewolf partners with clients to attain business transformation across people, process and technology. They are positioned between classic management consultants and breakthrough technical designers.

Boyle Software

Boyle Software is a custom software development company delivering custom technology solutions for clients in many industries, including Advertising, Entertainment, Financial Services, Government, Media, Medicine, Non-profits, Pharmaceuticals and Scientific Research

Custora

Custora is a marketing software company that offers the leading predictive marketing platform for e-commerce teams, helping retailers acquire valuable customers and improve customer retention.

Gust

Gust provides the global SaaS platform for founding, operating, and investing in scalable, high-growth companies. Its online tools help entrepreneurs start, run, and fundraise for companies and provide deal flow and relationship management for investors.

Looker Data Science

Looker Data Science brings data-driven decision-making to every facet of business. Its data platform allows users to save and mine data without the need of technical expertise.

PILLAR Support

PILLAR Support is a firm providing unique IT services company that provides technical support solutions for both sides of the tech coin: backoffice networks as well as software engineering (programming, web development, mobile solutions).

Pypestream

Pypestream offers unparalleled conversational AI built for scale. Its customer-centric messaging elevates customer experience with seamless ease. It goes beyond single-task chatbots without the need to combine technologies from multiple resources.

Signpost

Signpost offers dynamic management of online interactions between businesses and their customers. Its software automates the essential elements of building better customer relationships, helping local businesses get more reviews and grow revenue.

Stride Consulting

Stride Consulting is an Agile software development consultancy that embeds and co-locates with tech teams to help businesses perform at their best. Stride partners highly skilled Agile developers with development teams across a myriad of industries.

ThoughtWorks

ThoughtWorks is a privately owned, global technology company with 42 offices in 15 countries. It provides software design and delivery, and tools and consulting services.

(by Keith Gordon)