Top 5 Technology Priorities for Enterprises Preparing for Economic Slowdown

COVID-19 has spelled doom for enterprises world over. Half a year into the pandemic, we are still reeling from the effects it has had. The economy seems to be spiraling out of control with no respite in sight.

But, it’s always a game of survival. Those who adapt, build resilience and define technology priorities for businesses preparing for the economic slowdown are the ones that will survive.

This is actually tricky because we are in an uncertain situation right now. We do not know if the worst is over or a big shocker in the form of recession is around the corner.

Thankfully, a few technology priorities can help you in both situations. Embracing them will be a win-win situation because they are incident-proof and will help you stay focused on your long-term goal despite the current concerns.

Let’s dig deeper and discover what they are.

1. Choose the cloud

One of the largest capital expenses for most businesses is the on-premise infrastructure. It is an important expense and most enterprises are okay with it.

But, right now the focus is on operating expenses rather than the capital expenses.

If enterprises make the shift to the cloud, they can make significant savings by paying for the infrastructure they use (Essentially leasing it) and enjoying the flexib    ility of scaling.

We are wondering how bad things could have been, had we not had cloud computing in our lives. It helps us set everything up in minutes and continue working like nothing ever happened.

It has already saved a number of businesses, helping them through the pandemic. So, why not make it the standard at least for the moment?

2. Automate now!

Automation was a very hip word until recently. COVID-19 threw everything into perspective. A report revealed that the Business Process Automation market was predicted to be $10 billion in pre-COVID forecasts with a CAGR of 10%. That has grown to 14.3% already.

EY, in its study, revealed that over 40% of businesses are speeding up automation. Why? Because 73% of the total executives surveyed for this report said that COVID-19 would have severe, long-term effects on the economy and enterprises. This is why, the faster you make automation a part of the culture, the better.

Automation has gone up thanks to BPM technologies that have come handy in the past few months, helping numerous businesses survive the slowdown. But why?

Automation is helping businesses use resources better as it takes care of tedious, repetitive tasks. Employees can focus on the important aspects of a business. This also eliminates the need to hire new resources for paperwork and manual roles.

Digital process automation and hyperautomation are added expenditure, yes, but with no-code platforms that are affordable coming into the market, businesses have it easy!

It is much cheaper and effective to use technology than to hire human resources.
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3. Make customers happy

Poor customer service costs businesses heavily. Today’s customer has so many different options to look at, it is easy for him/her to cut you off if you don’t provide a memorable experience.
In fact, studies suggest that 90% of Americans use customer service as one of the crucial factors in weighing a business.

Also, poor customer service is apparently the number 1 reason for customers to switch brands.

During economic turmoil, customers expect a better experience and it is harder now because the expectations have gone up. Businesses are also struggling to make ends meet. But having said that, customer happiness has to be prioritized.

If you lose a customer, it will cost you 5x to replace him/her. So, it is safer and wiser to focus on your customers and give them the experience they expect.

A few ways to do so would be to be proactive, quick, and humane. For example, make sure emails are responded to within an hour (yes, that’s the expectation) and chats are answered immediately.

AI and IPA will do wonders in this helping you cater to your customers.

4. Brace yourself for new regulations

Financial crisis usually leads to changes in compliance and mandates. This happened the last time and we are positive it will happen again. So, bracing your organization for significant changes will help you tackle the situation better.

For example, many organizations have changed their work policy to accommodate working from home for months. This has led to changes in data access, protocols, and allowing files to be viewed remotely.

We advise intelligent automation to make this a seamless process. Compliance technology can help you automate all these compliance activities because it will help you keep controls while staying at par with trends and changes.

Throughout this article about technology priorities for businesses preparing for economic slowdown, you will notice the consistent use of automation.

Well, that’s how important that is. Automation drives the use of multiple technologies, making things more palpable even during these tough times. It is here to stay and the faster we accept that, the better for our business.
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5. BONUS – Additional steps to be taken

Along with assessing technology priorities for businesses preparing for economic slowdown, we advise you to take the following steps to make your enterprise disaster-proof (at least to an extent):

Change your strategy based on the environment – this includes the geographic location of your business, the risks involved, the vertical, and your products/services.

Try to be resilient – financial crisis has happened before and it will happen again. Businesses should be resilient enough to withstand the unexpected through short planning cycles and stress testing.

Make growth a priority – Innovation and research need your time and resources. It is only through these factors that a company can evolve. Growth during the pandemic may not be viable but it is crucial to make it a long-term necessity.

Quixy – your no-code business process automation platform

Even during the pandemic, we have seen multiple businesses shy away from automation because of fear of overspending.

Automation is said to require dedicated IT resources. It also incurs multiple expenses. But that’s not true any more thanks to no-code platforms. Automating without having to write a single line of code seems like a dream come true and that’s exactly what no-code is.

Quixy is a leading no-code platform that will help you use your resources wisely and strengthen your business, defining technology priorities for businesses preparing for the economic slowdown. You may request a demo or sign up for a trial now.

Vivek Goel

19+ years of leadership experience in IT companies of all sizes ranging from start-ups to large organizations in India and USA. Expertise in strategy and operations across functions such as Sales and Business Development, HR, Process and Quality, Project Management and Product Development .