Large businesses pump billions of dollars into technology to become more customer and employee centric. But smaller businesses are using these same technologies to run circles around their larger competitors.

Here's how they're doing it, and some lessons that businesses of all sizes can learn:

People-Connected

We're evolving from being product-centric organizations, to people-centric. But most large businesses are stuck with people, processes and technologies that are built around a product-centric strategy. Choosing to make all our applications more people-centric provides a significant competitive advantage. Even scenarios typically considered to be "back-office" can be made more people-centric, such as Intuit's invoicing software.

Question: Does your technology improve your ability to collaborate, connect and deliver great experiences, or does it create friction in those processes?

No Legacy Systems

What keeps large businesses from adapting to the needs of their customers and employees? Ironically enough, it's their own technology! Replacing outdated technology is difficult and expensive. Smaller businesses can start with modern people-centric technology. 

Question: Are you hobbling your future by maintaining outdated systems?

Agility

Agility is the speed and ability to change - to adapt to your situation.

In today's world, agility depends on managing information to make decisions. So the information our systems manage needs to be easily tailored. Small businesses get far greater value out of agile systems - such as Dynamics 365, Salesforce and SharePoint - because they have the freedom to tailor them whenever and however necessary.

Question: Do your solutions enable you to rapidly refine your processes and products to create better customer experiences?

Less is More

Making one system talk to another is complex and expensive. And the more systems an IT department must support, the more problems will arise. In other words, fewer systems means a simpler business with lower costs.

Smart startups find 3-5 "cornerstone systems" that they can expand to meet the changing needs of their workforce, keeping their business simpler and their costs lower.  We’ve recently completed two consulting engagements that were started in the “AS/400 age” – they are unwilling to walk away from dozens of outdated applications to consolidate to a few modern applications, while their competitors are quickly outpacing them.

Question: Do you run your entire business in 3-5 systems that can be easily tailored to meet the changing needs of your customers and employees?

Running a business is really about one thing: people. Whether they are our employees, our customers or other stakeholders - we exist to serve them. Is your technology making it easier to create better experiences for the people that you serve?