Futureproof your business by integrating a virtual cabinet

As technological advancements take us one step closer to advancing capabilities, growing potential, and increasing efficiency, these strides are crucial in modernising businesses and delivering a seamless service. Investing in technology and upgrading processes to get ahead of the times is pivotal for a modern business.

A virtual cabinet refers to the virtual storage of data to build a truly paperless professional environment. Embracing a virtual style of working can unlock more accessibility and collaboration opportunities, both of which are essential for effective hybrid and remote working, writes Sharon McDougall of Scotland Debt Solutions, a Scottish debt help expert.

How the pandemic accelerated technological evolution

The coronavirus pandemic played a key role in transforming businesses as those with available resources invested in both employee and customer facing technology to support the transition to working from home.

From introducing virtual document management software to house company files, to integrating electronic signature capabilities into the client onboarding process, businesses did all in their power to reduce their dependence on physical paperwork and upgraded to cloud storage to make operating throughout the pandemic possible, and profitable.

Businesses across Europe accelerated the digitisation of customer interactions by several years during the Covid-19 crisis. According to a McKinsey and Co survey, ‘experimentation with and investment in digital technologies have both played a key role in helping companies navigate successfully through the crisis.’

Key findings from the survey include:

• 72% of survey respondents reported that they were fi­rst in their industries to experiment with new technologies during the crisis
• 67% invested more than industry peers in digital-related capital expenditures
• 30% modernised core technology capabilities to keep up with competitors
• 38% invested more in technology to make it a competitive advantage
• 19% refocused the entire business around digital technologies

This shows that the pandemic radically changed the mindset of businesses on the strategic importance of technology and peaked their appetite to improve their technological offering.

Harness technology to futureproof your business

Although a product or service may be exceptional, the identity of the business, its offering and service standards will shape a client’s decision when choosing a service provider. It takes only a handful of competitors to upgrade their services and integrate innovative technology into the client journey to completely redefine customer expectations. As such, futureproofing a business by harnessing technology is of paramount importance.

The use of online portals and online document management can reconstruct the client onboarding process and transform routine sign-up tasks that can be arduous and time consuming into simple, no-bother tasks.

Since the rise in popularity of hybrid working, businesses have invested in IT infrastructures as part of business continuity planning to enable their workforce to securely access the same wealth of information that would be available to them in the physical workplace, while working from home. This also means that clients receive a reliable service with no compromise to service standards.

The Future Shopper Report 2022 from Wunderman Thompson shows that 57% of global spending is online and 60% of shoppers said they will increase their usage of digital shopping channels in the future. As such, businesses must move with the times, otherwise, run the risk of operating an outdated business where the target audience is out of reach.

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