The strategy of the web

Just submitted an article for my local IEEE magazine, I’m beginning to see myself as an IT vanguard and this is my second piece aimed at promoting the right use of IT. The beauty of information technology is in its ability to provide solutions as opposed to aesthetics and class as some may see.

Enjoy it.

Business Strategy and the internet.

For many businesses, the Internet is still a technology in search of a strategy. Lots of companies have websites but the internet has not yet been integrated into their core business strategies and a lot of businesses starting up fail to take advantage of the global front the internet provides.

            Bill Gates once said, “A fundamental new rule for business is that the Internet changes everything”.

            Integrating the internet into the business strategy has a lot of benefits and a few are listed below.

—        Touch your Customers: Imagine how much you’ll save and how happy your customers will be if you don’t have to be physically present to answer most of their needs.

—        Create work flow processes online:  Orders and customer details can be tracked online, clients can follow orders and view copies of invoices online and much more.

—        Global Visibility: The flexibility of online advertising and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) gives a company no matter its size, a global reach.

—        Complete orders online: with the introduction of the online payment systems especially the WebPay by Interswitch, orders can be completed online and delivery done right to the doorstep of customers. These orders can be tracked online by the customer.

—        The right Support: For large corporations and expanding businesses, customer support becomes a major issue and creating the right support system online solves most of the common problems encountered by the customers.

 

Over the past few years, we at Exolve Communications have been able to provide first class internet strategies for our clients and provide viable solutions and not just websites. For instance while working for Gateway City Development company, we integrated an online land application portal. Applicants used this portal to track applications and the office used it to execute land application processes. All these tools where integrated to give both customer and staff real time access to information. While working for Top30under30 (a pan African initiative recognizing the best entrepreneurs under 30 in Africa), we were able to create target advertisements and drive nominations from all parts of Africa using the internet. These are just a few of the ways in which the internet can help business processes.

On a final note, when you want to consider building a website, make sure it gives you solutions to business challenges and if you have an already existing site, ask yourself “is my site helping my business process or is it just a redundant tool”.

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