Today I would like to talk to you about 5 myths or misconceptions that many people have about technology and especially about its use within enterprises.

Technology increases employee productivity

Several clients have told me that they are looking for technological solutions to measure or even increase the productivity of their employees.. Technology alone does not help this goal,  i.e.,  just because employees can now use corporate apps on their mobile devices, they will not automatically do their jobs better. Sure, technology allows us to do our work faster (and more efficiently?), but you need the human component and process to make it work. If our users are not properly trained and willing to work with the new tools, or there is simply no proper customer service process or workflow in place, technology is destined to fail. As you can see, technology is just one-third of the components needed to ensure the success of a digital strategy.

Technology increases sales

In the previous point, I mentioned how technology alone does not increase productivity and, in this case, neither does it assure us that it will increase sales. What technology can help us do is to enable new sales channels, which gives us the opportunity to reach a wider market or simply to reach a sector that we had not explored before. For example, food delivery companies have helped the restaurant industry not to rely on on-site sales to continue to operate; likewise, e-commerce has uncovered a whole new industry in which a physical store is no longer needed to make purchases. Thus, technology gives us a presence in the digital space that opens up the possibility of selling more, but again it is essential to have the right people and processes to ensure that the technology project meets the business objectives.

Technology  is a luxury

I have seen how many clients believe that technology is something very expensive that only large companies can access, unfortunately, I have also seen how they opt for cheaper tools or solutions, which in the end do not work, and they have to look for a replacement. If technology is going to give me a digital presence, help me capture more market, and make my processes more efficient, then it is not an expense, but an investment. I remember when the internet was just starting, it was indeed a more expensive option than it is now, however, I knew I had to have it, something told me it was the way to go to enter what had just become known as the technological dawn. Today, there are tools that do not involve a very high cost, many of them free, and that allow us to take the first steps in the digital strategy with a view to business transformation.

Technology is unsafe

Nowadays,  although online shopping has matured many people are afraid to put their credit card information on an online form. I think it is no more dangerous than walking down the street with money in your wallet to make a purchase in a physical store, we run the same risk of being robbed and even more so in Latin American countries. The difference is in traceability, unfortunately, with cash, we cannot prove that the stolen bills were our property, however in an online transaction, we can prove that an apocryphal purchase was not made by us and there are even mechanisms to recover the lost amounts. In the business field, there are also risks of information leaks, cyber-attacks, etc. These can also be mitigated with advanced cybersecurity tools that help minimize the chances of attack and even deter cybercriminals,  protect the entire spectrum to secure the device (endpoint) used by the user, encrypt the information generated or consumed cover the link over which the data travels and ensure that the corporate network only allows legitimate traffic to pass through.

Technology is difficult to apply

When you get sick, you don’t usually go to the pharmacy to buy a  drug that you think will work, instead, you go to the doctor so that he can make an assessment of your state of health and prescribe what you really need to heal you. In the case of technology, there are also specialized people and companies that support you all the way to digitalization. The first thing they do is to analyze your company, make a diagnosis of the current operation and identify areas for improvement.  They then help you design a transformation strategy making the necessary recommendations to achieve your business objectives. As a next step, they can help you implement the strategy to ensure success, and finally, they will assist you with all the day-to-day maintenance and support so that all you have to worry about is operating and growing your business.

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