Why Business Technology?
In Sofigate we call ourselves “The Business Technology company” – we’re not only a technology provider and advisor, nor are we solely focused on business directed consultancy. We’re both, we firmly believe in leveraging technology for business value – and through Business Technology we aim to bridge these disciplines.
Try to recall the first computer you used for work. What do you see? Maybe a Commodore PC 40-40 with the big 40 MB hard disk and a whopping 1 MB RAM…? Or a Compaq Presario? Both remnants from the time when computers became an integral part of many job roles and took up a lot of space in the open office landscapes. And when IT departments were established as support functions, running the technical side of IT.
We’ve come a long way since. The names Commodore and Compaq are nowhere to be found, and the look of our desks have changed. Yet many of the companies that introduced information technology three decades ago still see their IT department as a support function – isolated from the commercial part of the business.
In contrast, a lot of newer companies are built on technology and see IT as an integral part of their business and the value they offer, also those that are not delivering a digital product to their customers. Consider how technology has changed the way we book and use transport: we use apps for electric scooters and bicycles on the streets of Copenhagen or to book taxis. We book flights and hotels online, after using an online service to find the best offer. Technology now driving old business models and enabling new ones. In a different field, construction machinery is now equipped with sensors that submit data for analysis, preempting breakdowns and enabling optimization of their usage – and allowing manufacturers of such machinery to sell maintenance as a service, rather than just selling machines. Here new technology changes the business for suppliers of a mature technology like the combustion engine.
With Business Technology we aim to bridge what has traditionally been considered business on one side and IT on the other – today business is technology, and technology drives value for the business.
Reaping the benefits of technology will require a transformation of your business. Not necessarily one that turns your organization upside-down, but one that ensures you have the capabilities handy to make the best use of technology, both in the digital frontline and as a backbone for your business.
The Digital Frontline is all the interfaces users have with your technology, regardless if they’re customers or internal users. Here the customer experience is the driving force. Good customer experience will lead to loyal customers, and loyalty will pay off through continued business and valuable feedback on your value offering. This allows you to continuously develop your products and services, to fulfil the needs and expectations of customers and internal users.
Driving, rather than just supporting, the value creation in your organization is the Technology Backbone – what we used to refer to as IT, and at times kept hidden in the corner. There is still a large degree of managing IT-infrastructure, tools, and services, but with a keen focus on optimizing cost and performance.
The benefit of the Business Technology framework is that it looks at both elements; the business and the technology that drives it. It brings people closer together and gives them a better mutual understanding, fostering an environment where IT and business collaborate and co-create new solutions, that increase the value of your customer-facing offer.
It is in the integration and combination of these three elements; transformation, digital frontline, and technology backbone, that we reach the full potential of our organization. That is what the Business Technology approach strives towards, and that is what we in Sofigate have set out to do.
Sofigate Mission: Turn digital innovations into well-managed Business Technology
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