Only a few decades ago, it was hard to imagine that the computer would actually exist and take up as much importance in our lives. This dependence evolved so much that it is difficult, if not impossible, to imagine what we would do today without our computers and software.
Given the range of possibilities, a company may be faced with making technology choices that will affect in many ways its organizational goals. Strategic choices are often difficult to make, , it is foremost imperative to make sure that the chosen direction is the right one. Nevertheless, even in 2012, many companies maintain redundant activities which are based on inefficient technologies, including paper as first-class support in several of their internal processes. The sooner these companies will access productive technologies, the faster their profitability and productivity will be improved.
Take the example of a company that performs inspections. Often, it uses the paper as a support to prepare inspection reports. Data compilation will be achieved in a second phase when the "inspector" will return to his workstation to grab some data via a computer application. We see here that there is redundancy in the work of the inspector (double entry) that affects inspection costs (loss of profitability), availability and working hours. Those hours could be used to perform a greater number of inspections. The risk of errors in manual compilation of data affects the quality and long-term relevance of information in general.
Acquiring software to allow companies to do their inspection work with technological support, including using a dedicated computer, makes their work more productive and the company can process more information on the long term. Software that supports inspections and allows data collection in the field, is able to validate the data entered instantly, avoiding errors or omissions. In addition, data transfer with an integrated and automated synchronization to a central database system simplifies the work, eliminating redundancy of data entry and paper!
A company that wants to grow and keep the focus on profitability and productivity must first consider the informational challenges. Business strategies related to computer technologies can be crucial and must be at the heart of most decisions and policies of a company.
