If I reflect back in time, setting up a company from a computer systems perspective meant getting a local network installed in the office, setting up the email (in the late 80's early 90's this all started), getting accounting up and running, maybe contact management and then file sharing... and away we went...
Today it is very different......
As Cloud computing and Software as a Service begins its slow but innevitable transformation of the Software industry, there will no longer be a need to have an internal network setup, only to enable staff to connect to the Internet. The systems that are necessary to run a business can be run over the web such as the i-Tr@der Business Platform which handles all the primary business functions, email, bookkeeping, contact management and file storage / sharing. In many respects this makes computing easier for a business. No onsite server, no installation, no expensive IT people on the premises, better support, constant upgrades included, backups taken care off automatically and lower costs!
But this is only half the story to setting up a business in the modern era of the Internet World. Additionally, today, you must be operating an online Internet Marketing Strategy that compliments the running and management of the business. Now what does that mean?
Well coupled with the Business Management Systems going onto the Web under the umbrella of 'Cloud Computing' so all the marketing and sales tools have migrated there too. The world has changed, whether you have noticed it or not is another matter. To be competitive and to get our Faces, Names, Brands, Image, Products and Services in front of our competitors we have to use all the tools that enable that to happen, and they are on the Internet as Cloud Computing - Social and Networking services.
We have just taken a brand new business from an IDEA to a live operating online Retail website, this can be found at www.billbandit.co.uk, a complimentary business to our existing i-Tr@der Business Platform. The online presence and Internet based configuration and setup was by far and away the most complex process of the whole exercise, making the task of getting the product actually manufactured seem very simple indeed.
To get your new venture visible today, you need to have in place a website / blogsite with the appropriate domains, a twitter account, You Tube, Facebook, Linked In, Shopping Cart (if you are selling online), payment gateways (such as PayPal or Protex)... and you need to have thought about all the keywords for your business and made sure these are properly implemented everywhere for search engine optimisation. You will need to have the ability to collect names from the online facilities and build a list which can be used for ongoing marketing and making old customers new customers again.
All the above functions need to be integrated together for a complete online platform for your new business... this complex area describes the service that the Computer Systems Integration Businesses of tomorrow will need to provide. These are the skills that companies will be needing and bringing them together as a coherent offering will be the task of modern Computer Solutions providers. This new marketplace will be lead by those with an excellent knowledge of the key Web Based building blocks that make up the total business solution and, how to configure them for your business.
What will these new Computer Service providers look like? Well they will be very different to the old Computer companies of the past and today. The Internet will enable this to be populated by groups of independent business units each providing an element of expertise all collaborating through the Internet. This will be spearheaded by the Sales driven component which will take on the contracts and farm out the work to trusted business associates.
As a solutions provider ourselves and having just undertaken a business setup from an Idea to a real live business... I can now see very clearly how our software business will need to evolve and transmogrify going forward!
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