From mitigating the challenges of attracting and retaining top talent to aiding customers on their digital transformation journey, enterprise resource planning (ERP), human capital management (HCM), project management and project execution solutions are front and center within project-based businesses.

Now more than ever, firms in every industry are recognizing the pervasiveness of technology and how it can drive profitability, competitive differentiation, operational optimization and new revenue streams.

How to Get Ahead

As we kick off this year and focus on future success, here are eight ways business applications and technology can benefit your project-based businesses in 2023 and beyond:

1. STAY COMPETITIVE FOR TOP TALENT

The modern project-based workforce’s attributes have continued to evolve, and employers who have not evolved with them are finding it quite challenging to compete for talent and grow their businesses. Part of that evolution is leveraging the right tools and systems to recruit, onboard, develop and manage the people within an organization and provide the right technology to those people so they can most efficiently, effectively and intuitively perform their job.

2. CONNECT DISPARATE SYSTEMS TOGETHER  

As organizations continue to identify point solutions to meet their specific company or industry needs, the necessity to connect those solutions to other operational business applications is imperative. It’s essential for those systems to continue to offer expansive integration capabilities for key players and businesses to communicate with each other effectively.

3. .TRANSITION ON-PREMISES SOLUTIONS TO THE CLOUD

While this is a perennial trend that the pandemic has further fueled, it remains very relevant across every industry, regardless of size. Businesses continue their transition from on-premises to primarily cloud-based solutions and ERP products to save money and increase their accessibility, security and business continuity posture.

4. CREATE A BETTER UX/UI

Broad user adoption significantly drives the value yielded from an organization’s business applications. An intuitive user experience (UX) and an engaging, modern, accessible and visually appealing user interface (UI) can go a long way to drive user adoption. In addition, a modern and fresh user interface is another means to attract and retain talent from generations entering the workforce with technology prevalent in all aspects of their lives.

5. MAKE CYBERSECURITY A TOP PRIORITY

With attacks on businesses increasing every day, it is more important than ever for all organizations to take cybersecurity seriously in business continuity and data privacy. Organizations should no longer grow complacent by the assumption that it will never happen to them; it is no longer a matter of if and is instead a matter of when and how severe.

6. ENHANCE TECHNOLOGY OFFERINGS TO CLIENTS

Growing competitive pressure, economic uncertainty and the ongoing evolution of project-focused businesses have prompted the exploration of new service offerings and revenue streams. Technology is front and center in this exploration as companies that have historically focused on vertically oriented, industry-specific services are beginning to offer technology-based products and apps or technology-based consulting. This evolution is critical for businesses to diversify and identify new growth opportunities.

7. FOCUS ON PROJECT MANAGERS & THEIR TOOLS

There is an amplified focus on project management tools and the discipline itself. The process begins with competent project managers and equipping them with the right tools and technology. Project management, project planning, and resource management tools are more and more accessible, and the combination of these tools with project management best practices leads to profitable projects and the ultimate goal of satisfying customers.

8. BUILD ESG AWARENESS

Awareness around Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) is becoming increasingly critical for all organizations. A strong ESG proposition can create value and differentiation. Companies that demonstrate corporate responsibility are more likely to be trusted and, as a result, can tap new markets and opportunities. In addition, focusing on ESG can be another way to attract and retain talent and, as mentioned previously, anything that can differentiate an organization within the war for talent is beneficial in today’s employment market. Business systems and applications can enable ESG reporting and visibility to inform organizations and identify areas of improvement.