One of the reasons the depiction of corporate bureaucracy and waste, personified by the Bill Lumbergh character in the movie “Office Space,” was so funny… was that it was so close to reality. Inefficient processes, extra steps and mundane paperwork are all fodder for extreme frustration in the workplace – especially in IT. In fact, many employees can easily spout off myriad ways their job functions could be simplified, made easier and more efficient – and often those employee-driven ideas start with reducing the steps in their processes as well as adding the right technology and tools to help them do their job.
The Small Business and Entrepreneur Council published a study with some very convincing evidence that technology is affecting business for the better: small businesses that use apps save more than 370 million of their own hours and over 725 million employee hours annually, which translates to an estimate of saving businesses $275 per week, and average of over $14,000 per year.
There are the obvious tools that the majority of businesses utilize, such as email, cell phones, and copy machines, that have become so commonplace that it’s nearly impossible to imagine working without them today. New tools and applications are constantly being developed that can completely revolutionize the way that many businesses operate. Some notable apps that you may be using are cloud services, CRM tools such as Salesforce, or social media management systems like TweetDeck or HootSuite.
Although it’s possible to run your business without using applications like these, having these tools available greatly benefits workflow. A task that may have taken several hours can now take only a few minutes by using a streamlined system. The savings here aren’t necessarily financial, but they are just as valuable – using specialized applications saves your company time, effort, and hassle in procuring the information and results required.
While some inefficiencies are easy to diagnose and treat with a technology solution, other challenges are simply solved with brute force methods when an available innovation could help them streamline a time-intensive task. FiberLocator is a great example of an app that can be useful and time-saving. When your business has network connectivity needs, such as leasing fiber or finding a new data center, it can take a team of technology professionals days – even weeks – to decide what the possible options may be. After narrowing down the choices, it takes even longer to reach out to individual carriers to validate the possibilities and to receive pricing quotes.
Some efficiency tools have a very clear return on investment, such as a laptop computer. It allows for work to be done on-the-go, so there’s no lapse in productivity. Other tools require a bit more examination, but it becomes very clear what the value proposition is. Compare the cost of a monthly subscription to FiberLocator to the cost of labor that it would take for an internal technology team to procure the information that is accessed so easily in FiberLocator. Not only is the information gathered more quickly, but the company would save time, money and resources comparatively, all while receiving accurate, neutral, up-to-date information.
Is your business’ suite of telecom network planning applications and efficiency tools as up-to-par as it could be? To find out how you can benefit from FiberLocator, give us a call today at 888-275-2264.
