The operations of your business is the cogs of your organization. Whatever industry you are in, there are a set of processes in place that create the service or product you provide. This is your operations.

Back office roles like AR / AP are also an important part of operations. And, in this department, the speed and quality with which you perform those processes are what will set your company apart. Today it is impossible to run operations without technologies of varying kinds.

The technologies used can be any combination of software and hardware from industry specific software like Worldox for the legal industry or the Adobe Creative Suite for design companies, accounting software like QuickBooks or Peachtree, to the ubiquitous Microsoft Office suite. More times than not it includes a network, servers, desktops, laptops, polycom phones, and sometimes even Wi-Fi, tablets and smartphones. The important factor is that whatever the combination is, it is maintained well in order to keep up with demand.

Operations runs better when the systems run well. Even the most streamlined processes cannot run well when the tools used to run them don’t. A company with an excellent offering and mediocre at best operations will lose out to one with an average offering and excellent operations. Think of Amazon. Their initial offering was “we’ll sell you books.” Not a revolutionary idea given that bookstores were still rather prevalent at the time, but their processes were, and many say still are, incomparable. Amazon is continuously on the leading edge of technology in terms of their processes and they are one of the largest retailer world. What does the reputation of your operations mean to your business? How are you measuring the success of your operations? Are your operations running as you expect them to? Is there anything you can do to improve the operations of your business? Answering these questions can move your company from good to great.