Business Automation and Software Blog

Back in the late 1960s, the phrase, “It’s 10 o’clock, do you know where your children are” emerged as a popular opening line to nightly news broadcasts. While technology now makes it easier to know where your children are at any given time, it’s also technology that results in the new version of that question.

At any given time, do you know where your data are?

They say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results. That rings true in individuals as well as businesses. If your processes are not working, continuing to practice them hoping that this time you’ll get a different result, certainly is insanity. It’s time to stop doing things the way you’ve always done them, especially when it comes to processes for meeting customer expectations.

Coined somewhere around the late 1950s, the term “business intelligence” grew from a set of technologies known at the time as decision support systems. Today, the rise of technology and internet connection allows companies to track and compile data like never before. With all that data, however, comes the need to retrieve, analyze, and transform it in meaningful ways. Now, business intelligence software can harness the power of data within an organization. It offers a better way to sort, compare, and review data to make smart decisions.

It’s safe to say that Industry 4.0 (deemed the fourth industrial revolution) has completely changed the way we work and conduct business, making it that much easier to reap the benefits of a successful ERP integration. Technology is such a crux to business now that companies are no longer debating whether to invest in an ERP; instead they’re debating what’s the best way to do so.

With all the technology available to us, the speed of business is moving faster than ever. This can be a good thing when it comes to streamlined processes that get your products out to customers sooner, but rushing other things in business—such as new software implementation—could come at a cost.

What is good financial leadership? A recent survey of 1,500 financial executives revealed that only 11.5 percent actually qualified as leaders, despite being in a unique position to lead. What does it take to be known as a good financial leader? Is it finding the right business systems or accounting software for your company? Or is it being a go-getter, a decision-maker, and a resource-finder for your teams?

In an effort to encourage stateside consumers to purchase American-made products, President Trump has imposed taxes on imports from China, Mexico, Canada, and the EU. Each country has retaliated, yet the retaliation with the most eyes on it comes from China. The U.S. has imposed not one but three rounds of tariffs on Chinese products, totaling $250 billion worth of goods.

It’s interesting that even as we are in the midst of Industry 4.0—a fusion between technologies that blurs the lines between the physical, digital, and biological—there are some areas of business that are still woefully behind the digital power curve. One area that specifically suffers is supply chain systems.

At one time, the height of warehouse automation was the conveyor belt. In the past several years, automation has improved dramatically with the cost-effective availability of robots. Not only that, robots continue to evolve, now needing fewer restrictions—such as tracks or cables—to move about and complete a task.

Computer viruses are nothing new. In fact, they’re older than you might think. First theorized in the 1940s and published in 1966 by mathematician John von Neumann, the first real computer virus would appear only 5 years later in 1971, the Creeper Virus. Computer users have been dealing with viruses, leaks, and hacks ever since. No matter how cautious you are, there’s always a chance that a virus might infect your system and paralyze your business until IT can patch your system.