The Evolution Of Technology

Where money flows, it goes or grows. Technology helps businesses make sure it’s the latter.

It doesn’t need understood to be used. In today’s age, our newly educated and graduated - who are the developers of the world - put their knowledge of technology into the development to better what already exists. They enable the wiser business chiefs with the life experience to know nothing more than how to work the new creations.

A path from hardware to software to into the cloud

The MFP (Multifunctional Printer)

It’s been in use for years and will continue to be for many more to come. The modern printer is a computer. They have hard drives, memory, wireless capabilities and they’re also connectable.

MFPs, just like the computer can have software added to them to give them more power. They scale to become whatever a business requires.

If it gets complex, costly, or too time consuming, there’s always managed print services (MPS) available, which could be a cost efficient solution. Tread carefully with the contracts though.

The MFP is the hardware. That’s enhanced with software making the following possible:

·         Document management (Scalable to Enterprise Level)

·         Back office transaction processing

·         Workflow automation

·         Accounts outsourcing

·         Collaboration

Is it possible for an office copier to be more efficient than the desktop PC?

Perhaps…

Throw wireless compatibility into the mix and things get more interesting.

Now a photo can be taken of receipts and with a smooth swipe of a screen, it’s sent into the cloud and the contents captured through OCR (Optical Character Recognition).

Receipt bank and Shoeboxed are two service examples

This is SaaS (Software as a Service) at its finest. Every business knows the importance of tracking expenses. Expense tracking services get it and give you the tools to capture receipts digitally or the ability to directly upload them. Once uploaded, OCR technology captures the data, eliminating data entry.

That can then be linked to…

Cloud accounting software

Accounts – love them, loathe them, we all have to get along with them. This software makes that part much easier. Finance departments can take care of all the accounting practices, while your sales force can create draft invoices for approval while there in the field. Speed up the invoicing process and in turn speed up incoming revenues.

Manual invoice processing can be time consuming, not to mention the fact that it takes longer to collect the payments without it being done electronically.

·         Payroll

·         Invoices

·         VAT

·         And tax

All of the above can be completed in cloud applications.

As part of the HMRC Digital Strategy, cloud accounting will be the only way forward… and it’s for the best.

Cloud connects software together and lets businesses tailor solutions to their every need.

Forecasting, reporting, budgeting, and when the time comes – managing treasury functions.

Apple Inc marketed the perfect slogan back in 2010 with “There’s an app for that”. They were right to Trademark it, because all forms of computing hardware is now enhanced with software and those come in the form of app marketplaces. 

Copiers, phones, tablets, and even watches are being powered by software applications. When harnessed to the fullest in business, the right hardware paired with the right software can make the world of difference to the bottom line of any business.