At present, businesses are becoming more competitive due to several aspects, among which are: the increase in their production efficiency, the improvement in the quality of their products and services and any immediate positive response to the customer's needs. In order to achieve these objectives, many of the businesses that have been successful in their strategy have been through the use of information technologies, which have had a positive impact on the performance of the functions of these companies. There are ways to measure the impact that investment in IT is having on the businesses in question and whether or not it is valuable to invest what is being paid to automate their processes.
Methodology
The article presented below was based on different readings obtained from the Digital Library of the Tecnológico de Monterrey. Some of these readings are research articles previously published in North American journals, others are examples and cases of the experience that different companies have had with the use of information technologies. Databases consulted: EBCO, Proquest, Infolatina, ISI, ACM.
Introduction
Today, businesses seek information solutions that allow them to compete in the global market; The challenge is to find efficient methods for information technologies to meet the characteristics that the business requires, that is, the level of association of the technology with an approach to change in the business model. (Teufel, 1995). The role of information technologies in organizations has radically changed from being a simple office support to becoming part of the company's competitive strategy and thus increasing operational efficiency, as well as improving products and qualityof the services they offer. By implementing new information technologies, businesses will have a rapid adoption of technology that will allow them to lower costs and have good control of their databases of customers, suppliers and distributors.
At present, the need for better management of the company's resources, specifically technological ones, due to its great importance, requires measuring its contribution to the organization's performance.
IT benefit sourcing processes
Among the benefits of information technologies is a better design and performance of the Supply Chain.
“The use of Information Technology (IT) to support purchasing initiatives is growing more and more among Mexican companies due to the benefits obtained in their supply processes,” said Antonio José de Freitas, general director of Web México.
The "Forecast and supply driven by demand" model is proposed by Alfredo Capote, director of the Center for Research Applied to Electronic Business at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education. This model is mentioned in the article by Reyna Isabel Ortega in 2007, to explain the benefit that Information Technologies (IT) have in the supply chain, since it explains that the concept of Capote involves a community inter-linked with supply processes and the business network between employees, customers, distributors and suppliers. Focused on the efficiency and effectiveness of companies, Ortega mentions: “This model proposes the manufacture of elements, according to levels of purchase orders, delivery, logistics and assembly.This allows a change in the role of purchasing and inventories in companies, which leads to the use of communication techniques that allow information and data to be shared about the product and the production systems. "
"Process to interpret the added value of Information Technologies"
Moonevey, John G., Gurbaxani, Vijay, Kraemer, Kenneth L. “A process oriented framework for assessing the business value of information technology”. nineteen ninety six
They bet on the adoption of CRM in SMEs
The company salesforce.com is openly entering to offer the SME segment a comprehensive Internet-based CRM (Customer Relationship Management) service, with which, it says, they are helping businesses to have a rapid adoption of technology, at low costs and with a fast implementation, to have a good control of your databases of customers, suppliers and distributors.
"It is important to promote education and awareness in the use of technology in small or growing companies, so that they recognize the opportunities they have in mechanisms that will help them grow, such as Internet-based CRM," he explained. the salesforce.com executive on the sidelines of the celebration of its annual Dreamforce 2007 event, in the city of San Francico. Information technologies, or in this particular case, CRM, are seen by companies as a way to achieve their objectives. In this way, companies are betting on the IT area and this is close to an investment of 50% of the capital. (Mooney, Gurbaxani and Kreemer, 1996).
Measuring the value of technology in the business
The importance of having defined metrics to measure the performance of technology was the main topic during the panel "The business value of Information Technologies."
Governance and credibility, through resources, roles, measurements and processes; the knowledge of the different technological options that exist; the best way to bring technology to business; the value of the business, and a good management scheme are the aspects that the panel proposed.
One of the companies that made its experience known during this event was Alestra, who through the implementation of the CRM platform, since 2001 has achieved a 60 percent reduction in support and maintenance costs, as well as of 50 percent in the time of telephone attention to its clients.
A basic need that this panel addressed was to establish computer security within the company and the need to have a strategy that includes basic processes, know the infrastructure that composes it and make some recommendations when implementing it was established.
The important thing is to be able to establish the link between the value of information systems and the performance of companies due to the scale in costs and importance of the area in any organization. Some literatures refer to the terms technological productivity or productivity value, linked to results that can be measured and exposed to the public. In this way, it is possible to be aware of the reduction of costs and times and increase in profits, as companies are part of technological development and process innovation.
"Dimensions of the value of Information Technologies"
Moonevey, John G., Gurbaxani, Vijay, Kraemer, Kenneth L. “A process oriented framework for assessing the business value of information technology”. nineteen ninety six
The impact of electronic commerce on SMEs
In 2001, Yolanda Jurado's publication about electronic commerce in SMEs mentions that creating business success through the formulation and implementation of electronic commerce, business strategy is the new requirement to not lose the competitive advantage in the new global market.
Authors such as Reyna Isabel Ortega and Humberto Nino de Haro conclude in the same way regarding the use of electronic commerce in the competitive strategy of the company, whether it is a small, medium or large company. Most of the countries in America already have the technology to access the Internet via PCs; This helps consumers to be informed in a faster way so that businesses, in order to survive, have to adapt to technological changes in society.
If managers do not want to lose the market already won, an effort must be made to build good relationships with customers and suppliers, so that decisions can be made in a shorter time.
In the short term, markets may be undergoing transcendental changes (Cobb, 1996), and one of them is the application of electronic commerce, for which, companies require great flexibility in their behavior to face changes in the environment.
Yolanda Jurado, in 2001, mentions in her article that the costs of electronic commerce can represent up to 20% of the fixed costs of companies, but that relying on the Internet, these costs can be lower than traditional information technologies. In this way, Fernández concludes that the change can be attractive for companies, as long as the number of clients and profits can bear these costs. The same author mentions that in order to have a satisfied customer, the customer must be given security, speed and guarantees in electronic transactions. This means that the structure must be reorganized so that if these facilities do not exist, they can be provided.
"Elements that generate added value"
Moonevey, John G., Gurbaxani, Vijay, Kraemer, Kenneth L. “A process oriented framework for assessing the business value of information technology”. nineteen ninety six
Conclusions
The objective of the article is to present the strong impact of the use of information technologies in the business world and in this way to be able to understand the value of the IT area in the scope of competitive strategies.
The investment in technology cannot be made before reviewing and analyzing the position of the business and what are the resources available to inject money into something that is really going to have positive consequences for the company; This conclusion is part of the article by Verónica Sánchez that was published in El Norte in October 2003.
Companies must be able to understand the dynamism of information technologies and be aware of the continuous changes that they are going to undergo but which, at the same time, will be reflected in future successes that the company will achieve through the processes automated and information control.
It is intended to give a positive approach to everything related to information systems and technology because it is not in question that organizing the information will have any negative consequence on the business, and it is precisely where IT begins to perform its function in the company; but at the same time it is necessary to know that investment in this area depends on the results that are going to be obtained in each business.
Concluding with the statement by Yolanda Jurado in 2001, "Business strategy is the new requirement to not lose competitive advantage in the new global market", but from a personal point of view, this strategy should not exclude the application of information technologies that go hand in hand with the needs of the organization in question.
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