Entrepreneurial business leaders looking for new technologies to help their SMEs to grow and thrive now have a powerful new tool at their fingertips, with the launch of the fully-funded Technology Adoption Service. The Technology Adoption Service (TAS) has been launched by GC Business Growth Hub as a result of Greater Manchester and London authorities joining forces to find new ways of helping SME business owners. The TAS platform has been developed with support from Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Greater London Authority, and as part of the Greater Manchester Local Industrial Strategy, which sets out a programme of measures to support businesses, good employment and sector strengths in the city-region.
Working in a similar way to popular consumer comparison websites, the Technology Adoption Service is an easy-to-access and intuitive online platform, that enables businesses to search and compare technology tools that are designed to drive productivity and growth. More than 450 products have already been extensively researched and catalogued for the site. The products cover an array of categories which include but are not limited to: sales and customer relationship management (CRM), accounting and finance, recruitment and HR, resource management, data and analytics, and social media marketing.
The site will be regularly updated with new products and services, and prospective suppliers can apply for their products to be listed via a contact form on the site. Councillor Elise Wilson, Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) portfolio lead for Economy, said: “In partnership with GC Business Growth Hub and London Business Hub, we’re excited to be launching the Technology Adoption Service to help Greater Manchester’s small businesses become more productive. Whether a business wants to manage its finances more efficiently, make better use of data, or sell more online, technology can provide a solution, but business leaders can find the landscape difficult to navigate. The platform offers a simple way for businesses to find the tool that best suits their needs, with additional support on adopting the technology provided by the Business Growth Hub.”
Sarah Novotny, Head of Digital, Creative and Tech for GC Business Growth Hub, said: “Faced with the day-to-day challenges and constraints of running a business, smaller and medium sized enterprises tend to be least likely to adopt new technologies that could be beneficial to their long-term productivity and growth. “Yet independent research by the Enterprise Research Centre has found SME businesses report an average productivity uplift of 20 per cent by investing in new technologies. Our solution to this problem is the fantastic new Technology Adoption Service, which can help our business community to easily research and consider many of the technology options that are available to them, via a trusted source.”
