Jeremy Tauri: Keep up with rapid upgrades

Businesses need to be aware of trends and update their internet coverage appropriately.

The internet has brought immense benefits to Kiwis and offers many opportunities to businesses for growth.

Ninety per cent of New Zealand houses are connected to the internet and mobile phone internet connections increased by 16 per cent last year to 3.7 million from 3.2 million the year before.

What's increasingly important is that businesses realise these trends and continue to look at ways to connect to digital platforms throughout their business.

If you're sitting there thinking: "We've got a website, we're sorted" - sorry, think again.

Just having a website is no longer anywhere near enough. Thinking digital includes looking at different aspects of your business, everything from processes to customer touch points and interaction.

What benefits could you expect? Things like big time savings, up-to-date information for critical decision making and process automation.

Another benefit of going digital is that you can leave behind a legacy of information and quickly create efficient, effective records that you might only have dreamed of before.

This massive record of business information is invaluable for sale or succession purposes or for reviewing the story of where your business has come from.

The good news is, software is no longer a huge upfront expense, installed via CD or DVD.

Software as a service -" Saas" -- is a subscription model to allow you to use software, usually through a web browser. An example many businesses are familiar with is the accounting software Xero.

There's no need for expensive servers to host data or the requirement to back up your information -- your data is available wherever you have an internet connection, more good reasons to go digital.

Other success stories include point-of-sale software Vend, which is transforming the way a lot of retail businesses operate.

The great news is that software is making it very easy for even small businesses to run top-notch systems and processes, even if they are on the road or frequently away from the office. Is it time you gave your business a technology check-up to see what you could be doing better? Give your business adviser a call.

Customer relationship management systems (CRMS) are an excellent way to maintain your records, ensure you are aware of their needs and keeping in regular contact.