Overcoming Barriers to Technology Adoption at Your Business
As a business leader, you’re always looking to stay ahead of the competition and meet your customers’ needs, and that involves keeping the IT side of your business up to speed with the rest of your business. How do you do that? Through technology adoption.
Technology adoption refers to the adoption or acceptance of a new product into your business. While it sounds simple, the technology adoption lifecycle involves more than just using a new piece of technology. As any business that has gone through a digital transformation initiative would know, there’s a challenging—yet crucial—decision-making and acceptance process.
Thankfully, we’re here to make the process easier. These are some of the biggest barriers you’ll face when it comes to getting your entire organization on board with new technologies, plus ways you can overcome them.
What are the biggest obstacles to technology adoption?
COST
Digital transformation can seem like an expensive endeavor, and many businesses shy away from the upfront costs involved in buying and implementing new technology. However, choosing not to adopt new technologies can cost you more in the long run. With outdated systems, you’ll end up spending more on maintenance, not to mention the loss in productivity and efficiency, which also translates to higher costs.
Solution: Investing in updated technology comes with long-term cost benefits, but that doesn’t mean you should adopt new tools on a whim. Careful budget forecasting using simple financial planning softwares can help businesses better prepare for new systems’ upfront and ongoing costs.
RISK
New business ventures always come with risk. In the case of technology adoption, stakeholders might ask questions like, will we get a clear return on our investment? Will this actually facilitate digital transformation efforts?
Solution: As the saying goes, without risk, there’s no reward. Still, you want to know you’re making the right decisions when it comes to adopting new technologies. Doing your due diligence is the best way to minimize risk, whether it be conducting thorough research about different solutions or calling in consultants, like AccountabilIT, who can give you expert guidance on what would be the best fit for your business.
ATTITUDE
Even if there were no risks involved in adopting new technology, people would probably continue to shy away from big changes. In other words, your IT team may be on board with adopting new technology, but you’ll need to get buy-in from employees, executives, and other stakeholders by clearly demonstrating how new technology would benefit them and make their jobs easier.
Solution: Changing attitudes is a challenge, but it’s not impossible. Establishing a strong change management program gets key stakeholders involved in the transformation process and helps businesses foster a company-wide culture that embraces change, all of which minimize resistance to new technology.
END USER ONBOARDING
The key to getting the most out of new technology is ensuring that end users are using it to its full potential. However, for many businesses, this is easier said than done. You’ll likely be adopting highly complex systems, and there’s a good chance not all of your employees will easily pick up on how to operate them. After all, every employee has their own skills and competencies.
Solution: To make sure your end users know how to use new tools, consider creating different training programs for each new piece of technology. Many companies, especially those that may not have the time or resources for internal programs, choose to enlist professional end user support services.
SECURITY
A lack of understanding of advanced technologies often leads to concerns over cybersecurity. After all, how can you ensure the technology is secure if simply learning how to use the technology is already challenging? While these concerns are valid, old, outdated technology can cause you more cybersecurity problems in the long run as they leave doors open for sophisticated cyber attacks.
Solution: In combination with cybersecurity best practices, new technology can significantly strengthen your business’s security posture, and many companies choose to outsource to a managed security services provider (MSSP) like AccountabilIT to ensure they’re getting the cybersecurity support they need. While you focus on the adoption process, an MSSP keeps a close eye on the everyday security of all of your technology.
Ready for an IT update?
From boosting efficiency and powering innovation to addressing modern workplace challenges, we’re here to ensure you experience all of the benefits of technology adoption. Reach out today to learn about how our people-driven approach and industry expertise help keep your IT up to speed with the rest of your business.
