The Potential of Technology
More and more technology is becoming available at an exponential rate (red curve). Technology is becoming easier to use and we are getting better at using it. The 'user friendliness' of technology may even be improving at an exponential rate (blue curve), however, most people would agree that the acceleration of technology (what's available) is outpacing the user-friendliness and what we see is an ever increasing gap (yellow arrows) between the potential of technology and the utilisation of this potential.
Relevance to SME's
With
Small to Medium Enterprises (SME's) making up 99% of businesses in
Australia it is interesting to note that the gap between the potential of
technology and the realisation and use of that technology is lowest at the
smaller end of town (blue curve). Hence the opportunity to bridge the gap is
bigger the smaller the business (yellow arrows).
It is important to take a logical approach to bridging the gap.
First all the foundations need to be in place and only then can you
build up to the more complicated solutions (represented by the pyramid).
Relevance to SME's
Most
companies move on to more interesting and often more complex solutions
before completing the foundation level (the falling pyramid) - this
results in frustration. You need a strategy that ensures you have
filled the gaps before you implement your solution.
The pyramid of solutions is unique for each company but a typical
e-Business pyramid might have the following levels ...
-
Systems and equipment (Hardware)
-
Training and culture (Skills)
-
Custom applications for internal use (Intranet)
-
Access for customers, suppliers etc. (Extranet)
-
Corporate Portal
Why e-Business ?
“Fixed
Cost -- Multiple Returns”
One Investment / Ongoing Revenue
(various resources … money, time, info. etc.)
Automation
& Facilitation of Business Processes
Guided Entry (510 = 9.8 M)
Job Tracking with “alerts” (appointments, tasks)
Links to vast resources (incl. multimedia archives)
Online forums (threads, conferences, chats)
To reach
50M users …
Radio took 38 years
TV took 13 years
Internet took 4 years
Why e-Business ?
An example of "Fixed Cost -- Multiple Return" would be a document you wrote and sold via your website. You only have to write it once, no matter how many people purchase the report your workload does not increase.
An example of guided entry is a questionnaire with 10 multiple choice questions, each with 5 possible answers. If each subsequent question is dependent on the previous answer then 10 questions can account for almost ten million answers.
These examples provide good reasons for being excited about the potential of e-business for companies large and small.
Action Steps
When you go through the implementation of the foundations and higher level solutions you typically repeat a cycle of understanding, commitment and action. The first time through this cycle you also have to be aware of the overall goals and objectives. The first time through this cycle is often the most difficult which is why Biznet guides customers through this first cycle and helps them develop their own implementation plans for the rest.
