Alexa Greaves, board member at South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) and chief executive of AAG IT Services, a regional IT managed services provider, offers advice on how adopting digitalisation can help businesses thrive.
In a changing economy, to remain competitive within the market businesses need to evolve and adopt new ways of working.
Introducing digital processes should be seen as a long-term investment and moving towards digitalisation can seem overwhelming. But what owners don’t often recognise is they have probably already started that journey anyway. All digitalisation really means is moving from communicating via letters and over the phone to talking and selling online instead.
Small Steps
Digitalisation isn’t about expecting businesses to invest in advanced software systems either – it’s about integrating digital tools into existing processes to make them quicker and more effective.
It cannot be denied that had it not been for digitalisation, the lockdown would have had a much more devastating impact. We launched our Renewal Action Plan (RAP) which sets out how South Yorkshire can put itself on the path to recovery. Within the RAP, £2m to £5m funding has been allocated to enable businesses to adapt their working practices and embrace digitalisation. Several support schemes have also been introduced including the Sheffield Innovation Programme (SIP).
With South Yorkshire as an important manufacturing hub, the introduction of schemes like Made Smarter, connects manufacturers to the digital tools, leadership, and skills they need to drive sustainable growth.
The Help to Grow programme has also been designed to help business owners and managers. The scheme includes Help to Grow: Management, which offers one-to-one business mentor support, while the new Help to Grow: Digital will help SMEs identify their digital technology needs, assess purchasing options and implement new technologies in their operations.
To find out more about these schemes visit sheffieldgrowthhub.co.uk
