Digital business: here now and just around the corner

Korea-Australia-New Zealand (KANZ) Broadband Summit 2011: Digital Futures, held in Hobart on 28 and 29 April, brought together people from industry, the research sector and government in the three countries to share their experiences with the transition to a high-speed broadband enabled society.

The Australian Government hosted the event and chose Hobart as the location for the Summit because Tasmania is where the first schools, homes and businesses are being connected to the National Broadband Network (NBN) and experiencing the benefits of high-speed broadband.

One of the panels was focused on “digital business”, inviting speakers to provide insights into how businesses can maximise the benefits of engaging online. The three speakers on this panel highlighted the importance of e-commerce, social media, mobiles and software as a service for businesses seeking to get online or get more out of being online.

The first speaker was Jane Bennett, former Managing Director of Ashgrove Cheese. Ashgrove Cheese is a Tasmanian dairy farm and cheese making business. Jane explained that thanks to the internet, the prospects for a business located in the middle of a paddock are much better today than they used to be.

Jane said that online marketing and e-commerce can help rural and regional businesses overcome some of the challenges they face in getting their products and services to customers. Businesses can use customer relationship management software and social media networks to establish and develop relationships with customers beyond local markets.

Ashgrove Cheese’s e-commerce enabled website allows the business to sell direct to consumers and small retailers, complementing its revenue streams from selling to supermarkets and wholesalers. Ashgrove Cheese has also used its website, social media and local online tourism portals to invite visitors to their shop and cheese centre on the family dairy farm at Elizabeth Town.

For more information on incorporating e-commerce functionality into your website, check out the Digitalbusiness.gov.au e-commerce page. And for some tips in how to engage in social media, read more in the Digitalbusiness.gov.au social media chapter.

Second up was Darren Alexander, who is a CEO at Tasmanian software and design firm Autech, which has grown to employ 17 people and now exports to all around the world from Launceston in Tasmania.

Darren said that as technology and communications services continue to become more capable and affordable, businesses need to change how they use them. Darren recalled that his first mobile phone bill was $10 for a one minute call. Now though, telecommunications are affordable enough to make teleworking an option for people in areas with good broadband connections and supportive employers. For more on teleworking, read the Digitalbusiness.gov.au teleworking page.

Darren also outlined some novel ways that retail businesses can innovate using online tools. For example, businesses can create interactive catalogues that help customers visualise what products will look like, such as changing the colour of a photo of a product. He said that with the growing popularity of smartphones, businesses should also consider making mobile optimised versions of their websites and smartphone applications. (And yes, we even have a page about optimising your site for mobiles.)

The last speaker was Chris Ridd, who is the Managing Director at Xero, a New Zealand software company. Chris spoke about the potential benefits of software as a service for small and medium businesses. Software as a service refers to a model under which software is hosted on a service provider’s network rather than your organisation’s network and is made available to your organisation online as you need it.

Chris said that cloud computing and software as a service are game changers that allow traditional business models to be transformed.

He said using software as a service accounting software can give small and medium businesses a real-time view of their cash-flow and balance sheet. Having an online accounting system that’s updated in real-time could be particularly beneficial for businesses with multiple locations or that have staff working remotely.

Chris said that having this real-time view of your business’s finances is important even for very small businesses. According to Chris, software as a service can potentially help businesses to:

• improve productivity, saving you time and money;
• let you access your accounting system using your mobile phone;
• generate reports to provide to your bank or other financiers; and
• share data with your accountant, making tax compliance easier.

If you want to explore the issues involved with software as a service, read more on the Digitalbusiness.gov.au software as a service page.

You can check out transcripts of these and other presentations at the KANZ Summit onthe Department’s KANZ 2011 page.

By Reid, DBCDE