Home / Modern Workplace /
With the uncertainties and disruptions of the pandemic behind us, there is strong confidence in the economy and significant investment capital on offer. Private equity firms, that have put funding plans on hold, now have large funds to invest and will be seeking high-return opportunities. We see strong evidence that investors are looking for opportunities in companies which have successfully navigated the pandemic, and can demonstrate strong financial diligence as well as robust technology capability and strategy.
This year we’ve been seeing predictions of huge increases in IT spending in 2022 and beyond. In January, Gartner forecasted that overall spending on IT in Australia will sky-rocket this year to A$111 billion. It explained that “Australian organisations will also increase their reliance on external consultants and IT services, with predicted spending on these set to rise 6.1% to reach $39.2 billion in 2022.”
What this tells us is that organisations are realising the importance of investing in IT and, just as important, they understand the value of partnering with strategic technology partners to ensure the investments deliver the right outcomes.
“Private equity firms will be looking for a strong return on their investments. There are, and always have been, growth industries which attract the interest of investors. But within these growth industries, investors will be specifically selecting those organisations that are investing in robust, scalable, and secure ICT platforms that will support the profitability and growth of the organisation,” explains Pieter DeGunst, Managing Director at Tecala.
The problem that many organisations face is that there existing solutions are siloed, and they fail to utilise the flexibility of cloud-based delivery. Unless IT platforms can meet the needs of the modern, dynamic, and distributed workplace , they hamper productivity, deliver poor end-user experiences, and end up damaging customer experiences.
Forrester Research, in its white paper, Seizing Advantage: The Technology Pivot ANZ Businesses Must Make explains that “Outdated solutions cost time, money, and customers, with midmarket firms reporting an average 28% of extra costs due to inefficient and/or ineffective solutions.”
At Tecala we believe there are three key operational and technology areas that mid-market organisations need to focus on to meet the expectations of investors.
For midmarket organisations to get on the front foot they need to achieve, what Gartner calls the ‘five capabilities of alignment’. These are great leadership, disciplined IT investment, a compelling vision, a continuous 3-5-year strategy, and robust relationships and partnerships.
Typically, mid-market organisations have less bureaucracy and can move faster. But with more alignment between management teams and the right partnerships with technology specialists, they can be more agile and responsive to change.
A business case for change must be based on economics, not emotions. Develop a case that focuses on the value of business agility, operational excellence, and employee productivity.
Mid-market organisations need unified business and people management platforms that can meet the operational, physical, and cultural needs of the organisation. IT investments need to be in platforms that are unified and cloud-enabled, provide end-to-end visibility, and are accessible across the workforce. Early adopters of these solutions have seen significant advantages in productivity and cost efficiencies that have primed their business for growth.
Investors are looking for truly transformational, once-in-a-decade type technology shifts that promise huge effectiveness gains for businesses. These practices resolve points of friction, improve productivity and efficiency, unlock growth, and help organisations scale.
Ideally, these transformational strategies will be tied to a strategic technology roadmap that will ensure long-term lockstep with your business vision and operational objectives.
By developing a disciplined IT investment strategy that has the buy-in of your key stakeholders and management, supports your 3-5-year business strategy, and it is implemented in partnership with a technology specialist, you’ll be able to demonstrate the significant potential for productivity, cost efficiencies and growth that investors are looking for.
Our assessment follows 3 Steps:
Why a people-first approach to technology and the experience it delivers is so important to modern dynamic businesses.
Empower your people, while protecting your business-critical data, and your hard-earned reputation.
