9May 2018$$$$$$$$$$Invest in Technology to Stay RelevantKeeping pace in today's environment can be tough, but to remain competitive your firm has to invest in technology. Making this commitment provides your firm a guiding principle in bringing the best solutions to your customers. Additionally, top talent wants to spend their days working on challenging problems that extend their current knowledge, so an investment in technology development will help with recruitment and retention. To win new and retain existing business you must be technically equal or better than your competitors; by establishing a culture of innovation, where team members are openly and actively seeking efficiencies, you can increase your firm's technical relevance. Stress the Importance of Operational Efficiency Beyond making the investment in technology enhancements, your firm must also remain operationally efficient, which can present a few hurdles. Corporate growth often forces your technology systems to become more customized, leading to more special cases to handle when testing future code releases. In some ways, you become a victim of your own success. Additionally, to maintain a high level of operationally efficiency, a company must make expensive decisions at the right points in time, which is inherently challenging. For example, most people don't want to spend money to redo the roof until there is water coming through it because there are so many other things to do with that money. The same sentiment often exists in IT budgeting. A final common challenge is making sure every associate in the organization is aware of the need for operational efficiency, and to create a process for their feedback to be heard.Take time to analyze the operational processes currently in place at your firm. I am a believer that the best impetus for technical change comes from internal staff demanding better solutions. People get comfortable doing things the way they always have, and many don't crave change in their routines. However, it is incumbent to communicate how any inefficiency hurts the entire firm's competitive stance, which in turn, impacts every employee. By creating a culture in which your associates recognize the need for continual efficiency within the firm, you can quickly capture suggestions for meaningful changes. Lastly, take concrete steps to evaluate the operational processes that resulted in errors and cost incidents. Then, establish a dedicated procedure for analyzing these missteps so they can be avoided in the future. A Balancing ActThe key to performing the balancing act between product enhancement and operational efficiency is to build a culture that values each equally. In essence, both are components within a healthy company's income statement, and decision-makers need to understand and embrace these efforts with equal ardor.
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