The Role of IT Departments in Small Marketing Businesses

Featured article by Xander Schofield, Independent Technology Writer

The marketing department has been the priority in most businesses for a long time. In addition, today’s digital world is changing the math and making the technical department. This is because traditional marketing is succumbing to data driven marketing. Digital marketing strategies have become the trend, and any business that needs to remain relevant must embrace the change. The merger between technology and marketing is making companies that want to boost profits or have a competitive edge make the IT department a critical player. The technical department has a mandate to design, maintain, and support an organization’s infrastructure, thus allowing it to leverage information and technology very efficiently, productively, and securely.

Below are the roles IT play within marketing organizations and why they are vital.

Business Strategy Development

Senior management teams are working on digital marketing strategies that center the objectives of the business. This can only be possible for companies adopting data initiatives that capitalize on the digital customer analytics for insights on their customer needs. This is resulting into companies hiring extra hands for the IT department to ensure that vending processes run smoothly, customize existing software, and deliver any necessary alterations to the IT system to gain actionable insights.

Network Development

It is important for teams and the technical department to share a platform that allows effective communication. The technical department has a mandate to deploy and put up an Internet Protocol network coupled with other advanced communication tools to meet the needs of a company. They are also responsible for developing solutions that ensure secure access to such corporate networks for both customers and employees.

Data Supervision

Digital marketing strategies assume data as their main source of information. The technical department is responsible for capturing, storing, managing, analyzing, and distributing this information to the management team for better planning on setting goals and accomplishing them. It is important to secure sales data, market research, customer data, and financial records in a data center. These massive data must undergo analysis for it to show hidden insights that will influence decision-making and create a competitive edge.

Information Security Management

Recent events in cybercrime are proving the importance of securing customer and corporate information at all costs. The IT department has a role to set up the proper infrastructure that insulates the business’ system from any cyber-attacks relating to viruses or hackers. They also take the initiative to work together with the human resource department. This is to ensure effective implementation of security policies, as well as procedures at all levels of the organization. Many companies are looking into adopting Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies. This will allow employees to use their personal devices for work related tasks. It is the duty of the technical department to ensure that all sensitive information is secure.

Training and Support

Technology has always been evolving, especially in this information age. It is important for the technical department to remain at par with current developments on their circles. It should also consider training and providing support to the management and employees as a way of speeding up their knowledge on the latest tools and technologies. To remain competitive, the department has to invest in research. This ensures the utilization of their resources in full.

Inventory Management

Organizations should be able to maintain enough stock as per customer demand without necessarily incurring more than what the business needs. This calls for better inventory management systems with the ability to track current stocks, and trigger orders for additional stock when pre-determined. An organization requires a team that is able to program such details and incorporate them in the production or supply chain process. The technical department should be able to realize an inventory management system that is connected to point-of-sale (POS) systems. POS systems are able to capture inventory counts during addition or removal of products from its database, thereby creating a closed information loop among purchasing, supplies and sales departments.

Customer Relationship Management

Small businesses are investing into the technical department to develop remote desktops, software and applications that will improve the design and management of customer relationships. The development of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems with the ability to capture every interaction a customer has with the company, enriches the company’s experience in customer service. These systems are able to connect the customer to their purchases, shipping information, and training manual for the purchased item. Therefore, the support representative is able to assist the client effectively as he has access to all these information. With time, the customer will realize the company provides a better and more focused expertise, whereas the company benefits from enhanced productivity.

Today, the technical department plays an important role in the success of small businesses. Information technology is vital and integral for every business plan. The technical department