UK Online for Business director Liz Grant talks exclusively to Computing

UK Online for Business was set up by the Department of Trade and Industry in September 2000 to offer independent and comprehensible guidance on the use of technology by small and medium-sized businesses. The service includes a website, nearly 400 regionally-based business advisors and a nationally recognised accreditation programme. Recently-appointed director Liz Grant talks exclusively to Computing about where we are now and where we are going.

What are the key technology issues for UK businesses at the moment?

A few years ago, before the dotcom bubble burst, business thought the internet would be a key to huge revenue and sales growth. A lot of companies saw it as a get-rich strategy, but that didn't happen and the focus now is on increasing productivity and reducing costs. There are some fantastic examples of companies using internet technology to gain competitive advantage because of closer communication with customers. Being able to service customers needs much faster isn't about purist online trading, it's about enabling customers to choose what they want from your service, faster and more efficiently. It means improving customer relationship management by giving your business a level of intimacy that in the past you could only do with a huge blue-suit sales force to manage face-to-face relationships.

So the real focus now is about the opportunity to improve process management and business efficiencies, and enjoy cost reductions.

What are the main focus areas for UK Online for Business?

In the past, we - that is UK Online for Business and the IT vendor community - have been very technology-focussed and the change is that now business is only going to buy technology if there is a sound business case and a good pragmatic implementation solution. So the direction we are taking is to look more holistically, and to talk about the tripod of technology, process and people. All three 'legs' need to be addressed, and those businesses doing that, and integrating the technology into their strategic business plans rather than just making short-term tactical decisions, are the ones who are really benefiting from their investment.

In the next year or so there are two main issues for UK Online for Business to focus on.

We have to help promote this holistic framework and ensure we have content that is relevant and being used. There are currently 45 documents businesses can source from us and the most popular, published last summer, is the 'Managing Director's Framework for Ebusiness'. We have 3500 downloads per month. The document tells business leaders to think of a range of different aspects when looking at technology, and build it into strategic planning cycle.

The other focus is to reinforce our advisors' accreditation programme - Technology means Business. The programme is now being embraced by IT vendors through their resellers. It's about enabling those who give advice to have the accreditation in their portfolio, along with a good awareness of the role of IT in underpinning business success.

At this stage, is it just a matter of educating businesses about what opportunities are out there, or are there still legal, technological or practical issues to be addressed?

Awareness and education are a constant and don't stop, because there are always late adopters or people new to technology or new to business.

The big opportunity at the moment is for what I call 'second generation internet users'. We need to help those companies currently using the internet for website marketing to understand how that technology can do a lot more if it is integrated back into processes of the business.

There is a tranche of medium-sized businesses who need this type of guidance. The blue chip companies have a pretty clear IT agenda, and lots and lots of small businesses have also embraced technology. The part of the market needing more guidance is the middle section.

The other point is that awareness, guidance, support are all marvellous, but we need to try to encourage a greater call to action. And we have to do that by articulating the business case - if companies can see clear rationale for doing something they will be activated, otherwise they will be content to continue as they are. Broadband is a great example of this - we have stacks of examples of businesses reducing costs by implementing broadband. They are getting all the other benefits as well - customer relationship intimacy, improved internal processes, faster, always-on access - but they are also experiencing cost reduction and that's when it becomes tangible and that's when businesses can see it makes sense.

Is there any way of assessing how much broadband is worth to the economy as a whole?

Broadband lets you do more, faster, all the time. It gives you incredible flexibility in terms of what you do with customers, suppliers and staff. Where broadband is embraced widely, then business utilisation of technology is far more sophisticated. The UK was quite late to the game with broadband but if you look at those countries further ahead, like Germany and Sweden, they have more businesses using technology more pervasively in their day to day operations.

What is the impact on UK businesses of the current economic situation?

There has never been a better time to embrace technology.

Capital investment has been held back over the last six to eight quarters and IT vendors have had to be focussed and increasingly creative in terms of what they offer. So it's good news for users because they have got flexibility, creativity and more niche solutions being made available and they should take advantage of that.

Of course the economy is feeling tighter than it was 12-18 months ago, but relatively speaking the UK is in pretty good shape and to a certain degree businesses are suffering from a level of intertia - things are ticking along and doing fine for a lot of them. This is the time for UK business to take stock and work out where they are going. There is an opportunity: many have put in place good survival plans to sustain their options base, and they have a great chance now to step up on the bridge and see where they want to go next. It's about using technology for competitive advantage whether decreasing cost base or increasing markets.