Gaining Competitive Advantage with IT

With the fast growth and development of the IT industry, more and more people are gaining access to the internet. It improved a lot during the past few years and it kept on improving, giving us unlimited possibilities. Now the internet is better in terms of speed and quality, cheaper and more affordable for everyone.

Since the internet gives us more possibilities, it can be advantageous in many ways, especially in business. The main reason for the creation of the internet is to create an invincible or at least difficult to destroy means of communication during war, and nowadays, it is considered to be one of the most widely used communication medium in the world. This can be used as a major advantage in business especially if the company has branches in different locations. It can be used to mange the company's supply chain. If company has this kind of system, then they can easily monitor and track inventory and information among business processes and across companies. It also opens a possibility for Just-In-Time(JIT) delivery of product and/or services which is actually a good idea since it maintains the inventory low and only receive the delivery whenever a product or service is needed.

IT can also be exploited in customer relationship management. Like most of the companies especially e-commerce businesses like e-bay, they provide their services through the net and in case of non-digital products; IT makes it easier for their clients to buy using online catalogs. They can also collect information about their clients which could help them provide their needs and wants thus giving them a better product or service. IT in customer relationship management focuses on three things;sales force automation, customer service and report and marketing campaign management and analysis. In sales force automation, it simply automates the sales process to improve its speed, quality and gives your clients the convenience of being able to shop at home. Not only that it improves processes but it allows customer service and report though call centers which is now one of the fastest growing industry here in the Philippines. It allows clients to offer feedback and suggestions while giving them the support they needed at the same time making the relationship of the company and the client closer. And lastly it provides a cheap but effective advertisement for the company.

IT may provide businesses a competitive advantage but no one should take it as a perfect solution for their business needs. As I have explained it provides people with infinite possibilities whether good or bad. IT also has risks to consider since it may cause a business's downfall. There are a lot of ways how IT can be disadvantageous for a company such as the possibilities of hacking and system failures. But like any problem it has a solution. But as solutions are created for a problem people still find a way to get what they wanted so it will be a never ending battle. One should also not rely on IT so much since it won't always guarantee success. Success comes from a good decision and a little bit of luck. So are you decided on using IT as an advantage for your businesses?

References:

http://quantifactus.wcupa.edu/lab/mis/CC02.ppt
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Murphy/?p=600