Managing director of Ab Initio, Rhonda Ridge, discusses the importance of automation to improve efficiencies and explains how the AdminBase installer management system will continue to help installation businesses in the current climate.

On the back of a new budget that announced more tax rises, installation businesses are being put under even more pressure. Costs are likely to increase while income remains hampered by low market confidence.

While efficiency in a business is always important, it is when margins are continually being squeezed that it becomes critical. Automation is the best way to improve efficiencies in a business, but it needs to be the right type of automation and implemented in the right way.

AI is increasingly being used in businesses in an attempt to streamline further, but this too can be a false economy when not handled correctly.

Looking to the future, proactive installation businesses need to maximise productivity and efficiencies with the right combination of automation, AI, and personal relationships.

AdminBase has placed a lot of focus on collaborating with other software suppliers and its customers over the years to make sure it is delivering on the most up to date customer requirements. We are in regular contact with the installation businesses that use our software, and we proactively ask for feedback so that we can further develop the system with the people that are using it every day.

This has proved invaluable and indeed has led to many of the software partnerships we have established. But where is this feedback leading us next?

Are we ready for AI?

We will continue to collaborate with customers and other like-minded software suppliers to build on the strong foundation we have created, and support users for what looks set to be more challenging times ahead. But we will also be accommodating another kind of collaboration – AI and human collaboration.

Our team of developers at AdminBase have been watching the AI space very carefully. Its transformative properties are undeniable but as its capabilities have expanded, so too have concerns over transparency and privacy. As with the wider field of automation, it is all about balance. AI balanced with human interaction will provide the best value for businesses and improve efficiencies and productivity in the most helpful way.

Once again, this is an area in which we have been working closely with our customers. We have listened carefully to the different experiences of trialling AI and have established that it would be useful for installation businesses to be able to embed their AI assistants into AdminBase functions. This upgrade to the CRM is in progress and we will be testing it soon.

As with any other feature in AdminBase our priority is never to jump on the latest software bandwagon just for the sake of looking like we’re leading the way. What we do instead is actually lead the way by carefully researching the space and by collaborating with customers to see whether the specific upgrade would be 100% useful. If it is, we then design and develop a solution while maintaining our high standards for quality and ease of use. AI is no different.

To integrate AI into AdminBase in a way that will work for our customers, we need to be fully aware of the pain points as well as the benefits. We also need to know which systems are working for installation businesses, how they are using them, and what best practice looks like across the function.

AdminBase has always had a responsibility to keep customers ahead by helping them to improve efficiencies and boost productivity, and by giving them the information they need to make better decisions. But as the market continues to face challenging times and automation increases in importance, we need to up the ante further to do everything we can to support installation businesses. Our programme of continuous improvement does just that.