Technology makes everyone’s life a whole lot easier.

Technology gets you out of bed in the morning, it gets you to work and even entertains you en-route. Technology, in other words, is your friend.

Within businesses, technology streamlines processes and automates workflows. All this adds up to massive time-savings – and time, as we all know, equals money.

So, how is technology being used in business and what are the key considerations for companies today?

Web-based technologies open up opportunities and eliminate time and distance barriers, but such technology also creates a massive amount of data on people – the more people you have access to, the more data you’ll have. And this is why information management forms a key role in businesses today.

Through sorting, processing and analysing, it’s possible to target customers based on their own individual preferences better than ever. The potential is there to create rich and engaging business/client relationships, but only if this information is used wisely.

The technology is only the tool, it’s the people that use the tool and make the decisions that really matter. In the wrong hands, and if misused by marketing professionals, technology can be abused and it can alienate customers.

Marketers must ensure that they don’t harass or annoy customers. Unsolicited cross-selling, for example, is one way marketers can drive customers away – just because you have a customer’s data and preferences stored doesn’t necessarily mean you can contact them whenever you wish.

But rather than looking at what technology shouldn’t do, we thought we’d outline what technology should do. So here are three key principles we believe all modern platforms should adhere to.

Technology that’s social

The concept of social technology isn’t new, but with the growth of social media in private and business spheres, making technology engaging, usable and open is more important than ever.

Using blur Group’s Creative Services Exchange (CSX) as a case-in-point, technology really is all about the people that are using it.

The marketer requires a project, and the CSX facilitates the fulfilment of said project by matching client with creative. The technology in the middle – blur Group’s Brief Submission app and the Crowdsourcing platforms we use to interact with our global Crowd of creatives – is all about engagement and interaction.

This is how the Creative Services Exchange can compete with the traditional agency model.

Cloud computing

For technology to be truly social, it has to be cloud-based. blur Group’s CSX operates on the web, and is an open conduit for companies and creatives to work together to fulfil a project brief.

Cloud computing is cost-effective because IT providers host services for multiple companies, and by sharing complex IT infrastructures, businesses only pay for what they actually use, it expands and contracts with shifting demands. This level of elasticity and scalability (see below) is exactly why you’ve been hearing so much about cloud computing recently.

This is the perfect setup for mobile and virtual workforces – in the CSX, our creatives are based anywhere from London to Los Angeles, so having access to a centralised, powerful platform is vital for all parties.

This basic principle can apply to any modern business, as web-based solutions help streamline projects by reducing lag-time, engaging and ultimately keeping costs down.

Scalability

With cloud-based business models such as the Creative Services Exchange, scalability is everything. This includes scalability in the workforce and scalability in the technology used.

For example, by submitting briefs via a blur Group web app rather than through an online form, we can automate more of the processes which makes it faster. We can monitor information more easily, deliver reports to clients on key trends and we can port the apps across multiple platforms. This enables us to move with key industry trends quickly and efficiently. And for businesses, it means they can submit briefs from any platform.

Scalable and slick solutions that effectively means there is no limits to the number of creative briefs that can be handled in the Creative Services Exchange.