However, another vendor—one that you may not yet be familiar with—is challenging these behemoths and making steady headway. Zoho, a privately held, profitable company with more than 9,000 employees, has formally introduced Zoho Workplace, a one-stop shop for cloud-based collaboration, productivity and communications tools.

Not new, but newly integrated

Zoho Workplace offers nine core, tightly integrated productivity and collaboration solutions. Zoho has provided all of these applications for many years but is now pulling them together into a more integrated offering. The new Workplace package includes email, messaging, audio and video conferencing; productivity tools, including word processing, spreadsheet and presentation applications; and shared file storage.

Built on the same data model and platform, Zoho has unified these applications with a common search and AI, and dashboard capabilities and deeper integration between applications. These new capabilities help take the friction out of collaboration. For instance, from Zoho Mail, users can make audio or video calls, edit document attachments in Zoho Writer, meet online with contacts, and access all of their email accounts.

Workplace extends integration beyond productivity and collaboration, however. Zoho has built integrations to Zoho’s other 40-plus business applications, and to third-party solutions. Users can also create custom workflows to inject business-related context within its collaboration tools. This streamlines collaboration across different business processes, from invoicing to marketing.

For example, Zoho Meeting connects to Zoho Projects, Bookings, CRM, and other Zoho apps; and  Zoho Connect (a social intranet) connects with HR systems from Zoho and third-party HR vendors. In fact, several Zoho Workplace apps integrate with third-party apps, such as Zoho Show, which integrates with Atlassian, Unsplash, and Humaans.

These integration and workflow capabilities are the reason that some customers are choosing Workplace. According to Anders Boulanger, Founder and CEO at Enagify, which provides sales enablement and training services, “With Zoho, the whole really is greater than the sum of its parts. The tools in Zoho Workplace have given Engagify a powerful hub of communication and collaboration. Since we work to engage and enable digital sales and marketing teams, it’s critical that our own engagement is seamless and Zoho has allowed us to do that and more, scaling to help us grow in a way that no other platform would’ve been able to.”

Privacy is standard

Zoho took a “Privacy Pledge” earlier this year, promising that it will not allow any third-party trackers to monitor user behavior. The vendor does not support any part of its business, including its free products, with ad revenues, and has pledged that it will never sell any data to ad-based companies. Since Zoho runs on its own cloud infrastructure—instead of on public clouds such as AWS or Google, that also have ad-based businesses—they can’t track Zoho user behavior either.

As I discussed here, this is an important differentiator. Most people are well aware that we pay for the “free” applications we use with our data. From Facebook to Google to Pinterest, vendors monetize user data through advertising and by tracking and selling our data to third parties.

But few people realize that many B2B companies allow surveillance companies to track their paying users on their sites. That’s right; even if you spend a small fortune on business software, some of the big names in the industry are trading user data for products and services from companies such as Google, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Disruptive pricing

Many vendors talk about how the cloud democratizes software access by eliminating the need for customers to stand up infrastructure and hire experts to take advantage of very capable, sophisticated applications.

Zoho takes democratization a step more by offering extremely affordable pricing. Workplace pricing starts at $3/user/month for the Standard version and $6/user/month for the Professional versions. Zoho can hold pricing down because it doesn’t invest as much in sales and marketing as its competitors. While Zoho has been expanding its marketing, sales, and influencer initiatives over the last couple of years, it doesn’t come close to the 50% rate top software-as-a-service invest in this area.

Perspective

I’ve been interested in what makes Zoho tick since I was first introduced to the company in the early 2000s. It has always had a different vision of success and taken a different path to market than the software giants it competes with.

However, while many companies are unlikely to consider switching from Microsoft or Google, Zoho Workplace has already made good inroads into the market. According to Zoho, Workplace adoption spiked in the last quarter, and the solution is now deployed by 2 million organizations, with 15 million users across more than 150 countries. The vendor also notes that more than a quarter of new Zoho Workplace customers have switched from G Suite and Microsoft.

Zoho is still a David in relation to the Goliaths. However, Workplace provides some advantages that are serendipitously well-suited to the challenges many businesses face today. In addition to helping companies streamline collaboration and workflow, Zoho’s security and price advantages dovetail with problems that are keeping many businesses up at night—and ones that many startups want to avoid in the first place. These benefits provide Zoho with a path to make an increasingly convincing case to those that are receptive to taking the road less traveled.

Laurie McCabe is a co-founder and analyst at SMB Group, specializing in small-business IT. ©SMB Group 2020

The post Zoho Workplace: Thought-Provoking Alternative for Productivity, Collaboration appeared first on eWEEK.

However, even though you see the writing on the wall, your business may be unprepared or underprepared to take action. In fact, our research also revealed that just 19% of SMBs say they have a well-defined digital business strategy and just 24% are working on initiatives to prepare their businesses for a digital future.

Integration issues hamper innovation

Using technology to work smarter, not harder, is critical to streamline operations, improve productivity, attract new customers and stay ahead of changing trends.

However, it can be difficult to get the value your business needs from technology. Many SMBs lack the time, expertise and money they need to figure out what solutions they need and chart a path that will provide them with the outcomes they desire.

Even more often, SMBs struggle with “difficulty integrating new digital technologies with existing systems.” This isn’t surprising when you consider that 80% currently rely on manual data entry, batch file uploads and/or custom code to meet all or part of their integration needs.

If your business is using disjointed solutions that don’t work together, it’s likely that people are spending too much time manually integrating and reconciling information. This leaves less time to focus on customers and the innovation that’s needed to move the business ahead. Information can easily slip through the cracks, making it all too easy to get blindsided by the unexpected. Trying to streamline workflows, make better decisions or getting a pulse on customer trends can become Herculean tasks.

Intelligent ERP can help solve the integration and innovation problems

Most SMBs recognize the need to solve the integration problem: 43% of SMBs are currently investing to integrate their business applications, and another 33% plan to do so. But integrating disconnected solutions “after the fact” is often difficult and expensive—and is unlikely to provide enough agility required to outflank the competition.

This reality is driving more SMBs to consider pre-integrated, intelligent enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions to remove integration friction, streamline workflows and get real-time insights required to respond quickly to customer, supply chain and operational trends.

Modern, intelligent ERP solutions are built on unified, extensible platforms. They automate business processes across core areas such as financials, order fulfillment, payments, inventory, supply chain, human resources, marketing, sales, service and more.

Applications within an ERP suite are integrated with each other, so business-critical information is updated in real-time across related business processes, such as order to cash. This reduces the need for redundant data entry, speeds up repetitive processes and ensures everyone has the same information to use for decision-making. ERP suites also offer a consistent user interface across applications, making it easier for employees who work in different parts of the business, or for those who need to retrain for a new role.

Although ERP solutions offer a lot of functionality, most allow for a phased approach. You can start by automating key areas, such as financials, payments and supply chain, and add additional capabilities as you need them in an incremental, yet integrated way.

ERP vendors are also building artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI and ML) into their platforms to turbocharge the automation and intelligence that these solutions provide. As a result, you can reap the benefits of these technologies from within the ERP solution—without having to become an AI and ML expert.

Some of the top advantages that an intelligent ERP suite offers include:

• Streamlined business processes with workflow automation. Intelligent, integrated ERP systems are designed to connect the dots between people and processes within and across different business functions. Information flows freely, in real-time to the people that need it to get their jobs done. This slashes the need for repetitive, manual data input and reconciliation tasks; decreases the odds of human error; and speeds up processes. Intelligent ERP systems also provide users with proactive alerts and notifications to help identify potentially risky situations. For example, they can detect when stocks need to be replenished and automatically trigger reorders.

• Better decision making with real-time, comprehensive information. No more dueling spreadsheets or “seat of the pants” decision-making. You enter data just once into the ERP system and it’s updated in real-time across different modules. Users get consistent, accurate information—which improves collaboration and speeds up decision-making. Getting a more holistic view of information can, for instance: help you close the books more quickly; identify and remedy customer service problems before they spiral and determine the qualities that drive employee performance in a given role.

• Next-generation automation through robotic process automation (RPA). RPA uses AI to automate routine and repetitive tasks and processes with bots programmed to replicate how humans would carry out tasks, such as entering information in spreadsheets or transferring data among multiple systems. ERP with RPA capabilities could, for example, help you to automatically determine product attributes by reading and interpreting description text, or predict supply delivery delays and suggest steps to take to minimize production impact.

Flexibility for the future

An open, extensible cloud-based platform approach empowers intelligent ERP vendors—and their partners—to easily add new functionality to their offerings. Vendors can expose platform features and functions via microservices and an abstraction layer. Using “low code” drag-and-drop visual development tools, developers can quickly build add-on applications directly on the platform while a cloud-based ERP offers extensive flexibility for the future.

This means that third-party partners and customer developers can take advantage of security, scalability and other functionality built into the ERP platform. Developers don’t have to reinvent the wheel—and customers automatically reap platform benefits in these third-party apps. As ERP vendors embed additional technologies, such as AI, ML, Internet of Things (IoT) and blockchain into their platforms, they can pass these capabilities through to developers as well—enabling a steady stream of innovative new applications.

Perspective

It’s easy to become complacent. After all, change is hard. But as the Greek philosopher Heraclitus noted: “The only constant in life is change.” And, as the rate of change in technology and business accelerates, the ability to detect, manage and stay ahead of change is increasingly linked to business survival and growth.

In fact, the cost of sticking with outdated, disconnected business solutions may be one most SMBs can’t afford.

Intelligent ERP can put your business on solid footing to work smarter—and to adjust, improve and capitalize on the inevitable changes that lie ahead. It’s time to critically examine how well current technology strategy and solutions serve the business today—and assess whether they’ll be able to provide the agility your business needs to thrive in the future.

For more expert advice on Intelligent ERP, read SAP’s executive guide, Adapt, Grow & Thrive with Intelligent ERP.

Editor’s note: There are a number of good ERP cloud and on-premises software providers available, including the following: For enterprise: SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, IFS Applications; for medium-size business: Netsuite, Sage, Infor, Macola; for small business: Deltec, Work(etc), Intacct, Syspro.

Laurie McCabe is a co-founder and analyst at SMB Group, specializing in small-business IT. ©SMB Group 2020

Photo by Artem Beliaikin, Pexels

The post Does Your SMB Have the IT Foundation to Support Growth? appeared first on eWEEK.

Our new follow-up survey study, SMBs: Navigating a Path Forward, explores how SMBs are adapting to the shifting realities of the next normal to get their businesses back on track. In this study, we’ve surveyed decision-makers and influencers in more than 750 SMB (1-1,000 employee) and midmarket (1,000-2,500 employee) businesses. The survey was fielded from mid-June to early July 2020, which is critical to keep in mind, because the trajectory and impact of the virus is constantly changing.

We want to sincerely thank those of you who took the survey for doing so. We’re also grateful to our sponsor partners, Dell Technologies, Mitel, Sage Intacct, Workday and Xero for their support.

We are developing an eBook with key findings and perspectives from the study. If you’d like a free copy when it’s available, please click here and we’ll send you one. 

First Look Findings

In the meantime, we wanted to share a few preliminary results with you below.

The negative fallout from COVID-19 for most SMBs and midmarket companies continues. According to the survey: 

• 78% of SMBs say COVID-19 has negatively impacted their businesses—up slightly from our March survey, in which 75% indicated the virus had negatively impacted their businesses.
• Overall, smaller businesses have suffered more than larger ones.
• 69% or more of respondents in all industries report negative impact, but severity varies greatly by industry. Businesses in the hospitality, education, and retail industries are most likely to report extremely negative impact, while those in construction, utilities, and financial industries are least likely to do so.
• 38% of businesses temporarily closed and have since reopened, while 18% of businesses have closed and have yet to reopen.

Despite these setbacks and challenges, most SMBs and midmarket companies that have survived to date believe that they will be able to keep their businesses afloat.

Many are taking steps to change their business practices and business models to sustain their businesses:

• The top three changes businesses have already made are to replace “in-person” meetings and events with video conferencing; changed layout of physical locations, and tied for number three are: increased use of digital marketing channels, created virtual service offerings, and increased use of digital sales channels.
• The top actions businesses are planning to take are to increase the use of digital sales channels, develop new products and services, and implement scenario planning. 

Cloud solutions continue to prove their value in helping businesses to weather this storm:

• In every category, 83% or more of respondents said cloud applications have been extremely or moderately valuable in helping to weather the COVID-19 crisis.
• 37% said that COVID-19 made them more likely to select a cloud solution for new application investments.
• Among those with work from home programs (WFM), 52% indicated that WFM has had a positive effect on employee productivity, and 61% plan to spend more to better equip work from home employees.
• Customer-facing applications—sales, e-commerce, and customer service as the top three areas that SMBs said they will need to invest in to recover and prepare for growth.

For more information

This is just a small sample of the study’s findings. Sign up here to receive a copy of our free eBook, which will provide further insights into:

• Business impact of COVID-19 on SMBs
• Workforce impact of COVID-19 on SMBs
• Work from home trends
• Technology impact of COVID-19 on SMBs

SMB Group is also offering a comprehensive survey report that provides detailed information about all 42 survey questions, with business size, industry, and attitudinal segmentation. This report is designed for vendors that need and in-depth understanding of the business, workforce, and technology implications of COVID-19 on SMBs. Please contact Lisa Lincoln, Director, Client Services and Business Development, at lisa.lincoln70@smb-gr.com for the table of contents and pricing information.

Laurie McCabe is a co-founder and analyst at SMB Group, specializing in small-business IT. ©SMB Group 2020

Photo by Kaique Rocha of Pexels

The post How SMBs are Dealing with COVID-19 Crisis appeared first on eWEEK.

Innovative financial solutions make it possible for you to execute on these goals. The right solution can help your business automate financials, streamline planning and budgeting operations, and provide the visibility you need to steer the business through changing market conditions.

The good news for small and midsize businesses (SMBs) is that cloud-based solutions can give you these capabilities without the hassles of deploying and managing hardware, software and infrastructure in house.

These and other benefits enabled by the cloud model, such as continual access to real-time, consistent information, frequent updates and continuous innovation, are increasingly making cloud deployment the obvious choice for many SMBs. While ERP cloud adoption has trailed in other areas, it’s poised to catch up quickly as businesses get more comfortable with the cloud model. 

Of course, you need to make sure that the solution you select will support the must-haves for your business today and provide you with access to new capabilities you’ll need in the future. But once you’ve created a short list of solutions based on functionality, it’s just as important to look at the softer side of what different providers can bring to the table.

The Softer Side of Cloud-Based Financials Solutions

These qualities are usually more difficult to quantify than things such as features and price. But they can often make or break your satisfaction with the solution you ultimately select.

At the end of the day, you want to work with a provider you can trust—one that will work with you to ensure that you’re getting the results you need from the solution and will help your company navigate through change and uncertainty.

10 Tips for Selecting a Cloud Financials Solution Provider You Can Trust

While no litmus test guarantees a provider meets this standard, several factors provide good indicators that the provider will “have your back” after they clinch the sale. As you assess different alternatives, tune into how well different providers match up on the areas below. Does the provider:

1. Listen to understand your business requirements? Every business has unique issues and priorities. Providers should take the time to thoroughly understand yours.
2. Answer all of your questions? This sounds like it should be a given, right? But the No. 1 way that SMBs say vendors can improve the purchase experience is by doing a better job of answering questions. In the case of financials, your entire business will rely on the solution—making it doubly important for providers to provide easy to understand answers to all of your questions about the solution, business practices, pricing, security and any other questions you may have so you aren’t left with any nagging doubts.
3. Connect you to reference customers? Ask the provider to connect you with companies similar to your own so you can get first-hand insights about their experiences with the solution. Of course, you’ll want to check customer ratings on online sites as well.
4. Have a positive company culture? Check sites such as Glassdoor to see what employees are saying about the company. A company that cares about and values employees is also more likely to have the same perspective about its customers. And happy employees are much more likely to go the distance for their customers.
5. Speak the language of finance fluently? Having a good percentage of CPAs, CFOs, and finance professionals on staff ensures that the provider not only “speaks finance” but also understands how to build solutions tailored to the requirements of financial users.
6. Have endorsements from financials standards bodies, such as the AICPA (in the U.S.) or the International Federation of Accountants Company? These bodies set high standards for accounting software that help ensure peace of mind.
7. Offer an easy to understand, comprehensive contract? Contracts should include service-level guarantees that spell out minimum acceptable performance level uptime, response time and other performance variables. They should also include data security and business continuity provisions, such as certifications that validate security, backup and business continuity procedures, and data ownership and return processes. The provider should also be able to make adjustments as needed to conform to your company’s security requirements and clarify their liability for any damages due to security breaches.
8. Provide a clear roadmap to the future? The only constant is change, and innovation will provide your company with a competitive edge. Examine how the provider is modernizing reporting and analytics; improving mobile and integration capabilities; and using artificial intelligence and machine learning, natural language processing, and other technologies to help you get more value from the solution.
9. Have an active, robust partner ecosystem? No one vendor can do it all for any business. But engaged partners can fill in the gaps with complementary services and products, such as planning, implementation, integration, customization, onsite support and more.
10. Make it easy for you to figure out where the buck stops? Avoid finger-pointing issues down the road by choosing a provider that clearly defines roles and responsibilities.

Many cloud-based financial management vendors are vying for your business. Assessing functionality and price may be where you start your evaluation process, but it shouldn’t end there.

Providers that take a customer-centric approach in the buying process are more likely to also have your back once they’ve won your business. Look for those that are easy to do business with—and take the time to provide you with the knowledge and connections you need to make the best choice and get the best outcomes.

Laurie McCabe is a co-founder and analyst at SMB Group, specializing in small-business IT. ©SMB Group 2020

The post How to Select a Cloud Financial Solution Provider You Can Trust appeared first on eWEEK.

But how deep and broad is the impact? SMB Group sought to answer that question in a survey of more than 500 SMB (1-1,000 employee businesses) and midmarket (1,000-2,500 employee businesses) decision-makers and influencers. The survey was fielded from March 23 through March 30, 2020—very important to note as the trajectory of the virus is constantly changing.

We want to sincerely thank those of you who took the survey for doing so. We’re also grateful to our sponsor partners: Acumatica, Dynata, Sage Intacct, Workday and Smart Hustle.

SMB Group is developing an eBook with key findings and perspectives from the study and hope to have it ready next week. If you’d like a free copy, simply click here and we’ll send you one.

In the meantime, we wanted to share a few preliminary results with you below:

• A staggering 75% of all SMBs report that COVID-19 is negatively impacting their businesses. Nineteen percent have not experienced a negative effect to date, and 6% are not sure.
• Almost two-thirds of SMBs believe revenues will drop by 30% or more over the next six months.
• Businesses across all industries are suffering due to COVID-19. However, the depth of this impact varies by industry. Personal services, hospitality and manufacturing are taking the biggest hits, with 90% or more of businesses in these sectors reporting a negative impact.
• Businesses with fewer than 20 employees are most likely to experience extremely negative impact; 38% of businesses in this size band say that COVID-19 is having an extremely negative impact on their businesses.
• More than half of SMBs have already or are planning to lay off salaried employees, and/or reduce their hours.
• SMBs are looking to preserve precious capital and cashflow by slashing spending on non-employee goods and services by an average of 37%. However, plans to defer, reduce, eliminate or maintain spending vary considerably among the seven expense categories we asked respondents about.

This is just a small sample of the study’s findings. The full picture, which we’ll provide in the free eBook, will provide more detail about these areas and delve into:

• How SMBs are changing, postponing or canceling physical world meetings, appointments and events in the wake of the coronavirus.
• The extent to which SMBs are expanding online sales channels, and whether or not these efforts are helping them increase sales.
• The degree to which SMBs are expanding or establishing telecommuting options to enable employees to work from home.
• Which online solutions SMBs are using to help sustain their businesses through the crisis, and how valuable these different solutions have been to date.
• SMB views on the value of different government programs in helping them to successfully weather the COVID-19 virus.

Laurie McCabe is a co-founder and analyst at SMB Group, specializing in small-business IT. ©SMB Group 2020

The post Measuring the Impact of COVID-19 on SMBs appeared first on eWEEK.

I’ve worked out of my home for the last 20-plus years, from when I was the mom of a young child through now as an empty-nester. So, I thought I’d share some of the tips and tricks I’ve picked up on over the years to help you make the best of it.

Data Point No. 1: Create a schedule to balance your day.

I’ve always found that one of hardest parts of telecommuting is that you can always be working on that computer that’s right in front of you. So, create a schedule that gives you some ebb and flow. For instance, I usually start my day at the Y, work, and take an hour for lunch, laundry and other household tasks. When I’m done for the day, I shut down my PC and start making dinner. This doesn’t necessarily mean I won’t open the PC again, but it does provide balance.

Data Point No. 2: Have ‘the conversation’ with adults and older kids with whom you reside.

Maybe your spouse is already working from home or has also just started to do so. Maybe you have kids, or your retired parents, living in your house. Whomever you share your home with, talk to them about the situation and agree to some basic ground rules so you can focus on work when you need to. With more people at home, there’s going to be more cleaning and cooking to do. I hate to sound sexist, but if you’re the mom, they may expect you to do it. Resist! Ask both the adults and older kids in your home to do their part. 

Data Point No. 3: Stock up on extra activities for young kids.

Sign up for extra quality-screen time activities and subscriptions, and stock up on physical world fun too—think Play-Doh, building blocks, coloring books and comics. Get outside for a walk or bike ride to burn off some energy. If you have other adults in the house and everyone is healthy, set up a schedule to take turns watching the kids. And ask younger kids to pitch in to help with household chores that they can do, such as setting the table and putting away toys.

Data Point No. 4: Feel free to move about the cabin.

It kind of goes without saying that you need to set up a primary workspace that has your office staples in it (printer, office supplies, etc.). Sometimes, I feel very productive in my home office, but other times I feel more motivated working in the kitchen or living room. Move around a little and find what feels best for getting different kinds of work done.

Data Point No. 5: Engage in water cooler conversations over the phone.

In most offices, casual conversations about non-work-related things abound—and for good reason. They help us get to know other people, form relationships and foster teamwork. These conversations are also critical to our well-being in light of the anxiety that the coronavirus is fueling. So take time for casual chats with co-workers while you’re telecommuting.

Data Point No. 6: Embrace the dreaded video conference.

You’re going to be in many more virtual meetings. Increasingly, people expect that you will share your camera. So prepare for the fact that you cannot wear your pajamas all day, and make sure you feel good about showing your face. Check out how you’ll look on screen beforehand, and position your PC so that you’re not looking down into the camera. Sit in a nice sunny or well-lit spot with the light on your face, not casting a shadow over it. Keep a comb and any go-to cosmetics nearby for last minute touchups.

Data Point No. 7: If you need to run a virtual meeting, get tips from the pros.

Just Google “how to run a great virtual meeting” for an abundance of how-to posts on conducting a virtual meeting. And if you need a virtual conferencing solution, many vendors—including Microsoft, Google, Cisco and Zoho—are offering their solutions at no charge for the next few months.

Data Point No. 8: Don’t worry about being human.

Many of us live with other humans and/or pets. While it’s great to minimize distractions, don’t panic if the little humans or pets interrupt a virtual meeting or phone call. In fact, this can be a good way to relax everyone—at least from the dog’s point of view. And remember, we’ll all need to practice tolerance and kindness to get through this thing.

Moving from the office to a work-at-home situation will be an adjustment—not just for you, but for your co-workers, bosses, and the people and creatures you live with. But who knows? This giant, unplanned telecommuting experiment may pave the way for this to become the new normal, long after the coronavirus crisis ends.

Laurie McCabe is a co-founder and analyst at SMB Group, specializing in small-business IT. ©SMB Group 2020

The post Eight Tips to Adjust From Office to Working From Home appeared first on eWEEK.

As far as I can tell, there’s no definitive playbook for how to best preserve our businesses and brand. But here are some of the “do’s” that can help you to weather the storm.

Data Point No. 1: Do offer customers flexibility.

Several airlines are proactively offering to waive change fees for a certain time period. This gives customers some breathing room to make the best travel decision and will increase loyalty to the brand.

Data Point No. 2: Do good if you can.

Zoho just announced it will provide Remotely, its new virtual collaboration and productivity platform, free of charge to anyone who needs remote working tools because of the coronavirus epidemic. Not all companies have something they can give away—or the financial wherewithal to do so. But think about the goods and services you offer, and see if there are any possibilities. Even a very small but meaningful offer will be remembered and potentially open the door to new paying customers down the road.

Data Point No. 3: Do be a cleanliness freak.

If you own a storefront, gym, restaurant or any other type of business that depends on foot traffic, make sure your facility is squeaky clean. Inform your customers about the extra measures you’re taking via signs, emails, social media, etc. Have lots of hand sanitizer and wet wipes out for customers to use. My YMCA has always done a good job with this, but has recently added more dispensers and posted signs reminding members to keep equipment clean. However, a friend of mine told me that the gym she goes to hasn’t taken any added precautions—and she’s considering switching. Would you rather visit a gym or restaurant that goes above and beyond—or the one that doesn’t?

Data Point No. 4: Do provide your services remotely if you can.

It’s tax time! Are you an accountant? Sign up for a video conferencing tool and offer your customers the opportunity to meet with you remotely. But this is just one example—there are many professionals, from attorneys to physicians, who can consider providing this option.

Data Point No. 5: Add new online channels.

If you don’t sell your products online, now is a good time to set up an e-commerce site or start selling through third-party channels such as Etsy or Amazon. You also want to build engagement on online social channels by offering relevant content to help people nest at home more comfortably. For instance, gyms can provide exercise videos, and restaurants can offer recipes to help people prepare healthy meals at home.

Data Point No. 6: Take advantage of slow times to work on the business.

Often, we’re so busy keeping up with day-to-day operations in the business that we don’t take time to work on the business. If things are slow, use that time to think about how you can run your business more efficiently, increase customer satisfaction and provide more value to your customers.

Data Point No. 7: Stay positive.

Easier said than done, right? But attitudes can be as contagious as viruses. Being realistic about what’s going on today but staying optimistic for the future signals resiliency to your customers and employees.

Of course, I could go through the list of “don’ts” as well. But in most cases, the “don’ts” are simply the mirror opposite of the “do’s.” Too many “don’ts” are likely to create a lingering negative impact for a business long after the virus has been tamed.

Dealing with uncertainty isn’t easy, and no one can predict exactly how long the coronavirus will impact businesses. But just as happened with 9/11 and the great recession, people and businesses will get through this crisis. Following the “do’s” on this list, you can strengthen your brand and position your business for success once the crisis abates.

If you have other tips to offer, please share them here!

Laurie McCabe is a co-founder and analyst at SMB Group, specializing in small-business IT. ©SMB Group 2020

The post Suggestions on How to Manage Your Brand During Coronavirus Crisis appeared first on eWEEK.

Check out eWEEK’s deep library of articles about small businesses here.

As the rate of technological innovation increases, the pace at which businesses rise and fall—known as the “creative destruction cycle”—speeds up too. In 1965, the average tenure of companies on the S&P 500 was 33 years. By 1990, it was 20 years. And it’s forecast to shrink to 14 years by 2026. If this forecasted churn rate holds, 50% of today’s S&P 500 will replaced over the next 10 years.

Established companies that can’t keep up will be pushed out of the market by more agile companies that disrupt established business models. Put another way, “The fast will eat the slow.”

We all know that Amazon gets this! Its business model is based on using technology and data to disrupt entire industries—providing more convenience, lower prices, instant and nearly-instant fulfillment to consumers. Amazon’s objective isn’t to meet customer expectations—it’s to reset them and disrupt incumbents.

This phenomenon is occurring everywhere in every industry—think about the impact of Uber and Lyft on the taxi industry, Airbnb in hospitality or StitchFix in the fashion world.

SMBs See the Writing on the Digital Wall 

SMBs increasingly understand the ever-more critical link between technology and business success. SMB Group research indicates that 82% agree that using new technology effectively is key to business growth, and over 80% agree that technological changes are reshaping their businesses, culture and industries.

SMBs are also becoming more familiar with what digital transformation is: 57% of SMB respondents now say they’ve heard of the term and think they know what it means—up from 33% when we asked the same question in 2017.

Younger SMBs Are Embracing Technology and Change Faster Than Older SMBs

But not all SMBs are equally proactive in this area. Our research reveals that younger businesses are considerably more progressive in their technology views and actions than their older counterparts.

For instance, compared to SMBs that have been in business for more than 10 years, SMBs that have been in business fewer than 10 years are roughly twice as likely to be planning to increase their technology spending and are 1.4 times more likely to forecast revenue growth.

They are also roughly twice as likely to be pursuing new initiatives to fuel growth, such as launching a new product or service, adding a new sales channel, expanding into a new market and more.

Younger SMBs Are More Likely to Run Key Applications in the Cloud

SMB adoption of cloud or software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions has been rising steadily over the years.

Flexibility, ease of use, speedy deployment, and financial and budgeting benefits are driving more SMBs to the cloud. Cloud providers lift the burden of owning and managing infrastructure and applications off the backs of their customers and provide frequent application updates so SMBs can take advantage of new functionality without having to install new software or hardware.

But younger SMBs, who have come of age in the era of cloud computing, are somewhat ahead of older SMBs when it comes to deploying cloud applications across the business applications spectrum.

Because modern cloud solutions are built on open, flexible platforms, cloud providers can also embed new technologies—such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, blockchain, natural language processing, internet of things (IoT), and more into their solutions—providing access to new capabilities directly within the cloud business solutions they already use. SMBs using these solutions can take advantage of these new capabilities when they need to pursue new opportunities or adapt to changing market conditions.

SMB adoption of cloud accounting and financials has lagged in comparison with other solution areas. However, whether you’re entering a new market, adding a new subscription-based revenue model or building a new channel, you need to be able to easily adapt your financials system to add new workflows, and to plan, track and manage new sales and revenue information for these new initiatives.

Cloud-based financials solutions, such as Sage Intacct, are built on open architectures. This makes it easier to integrate real-time, relevant data from sales, marketing, human resources and other areas into the financials system—and get a holistic view of what’s happening in the business.

Perspective

The mandate is clear: Businesses can no longer afford to be complacent about technology and changing market conditions. All SMBs need to critically assess the metrics that matter most and develop a proactive strategy for using technology to adapt to and stay ahead of customer demands, market conditions and competitive pressures.

Laurie McCabe is a co-founder and analyst at SMB Group specializing in small-business IT.

The post Will Your Business Disrupt—or Be Disrupted? appeared first on eWEEK.