Technology has always been at the heart of business growth. Technology develops at an exponential rate and businesses have to keep up. Remember the days when a fax machine was considered new technology? Even emailing was a revolution. Now both of these are considered old news. In the not-too-distant past, business was about person to person meetings. It was about getting out to other companies to build relationships.
Nowadays, that’s all done online. Business meetings are conducted over Skype. Even international relationships are built and developed online. We share information and advice over instant messages all over the world.
Business also molds to suit the consumer. Technology trends are altering the way consumers use services and buy products. This means that many fundamental business practices are forced to change. Technology has severely changed the way we do business. At the business to business level and the consumer level. Only the very best companies survive these changes in technology. The very recent past is strewn with giant companies that have crumbled under the pressure.
Think of how far we’ve come since emails were revolutionary. That was not so long ago. Within ten years, technology will have driven businesses into a completely new direction. Augmented reality and robotics will change how we work in the office. Consumer technology will change and businesses will be forced to adapt. It’s this unpredictability that scares many CEOs.
Size is no longer a key to success
The huge giants of industry were always considered safe in the business world. If you had a bank full of money and solid market position, you weren’t going anywhere. Money could always provide the solution to more workers or more advertising. These were simpler days.
Now, size doesn’t matter. The fastest growing companies in the world today started in someone’s bedroom. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are the dominating companies in this world. They become billion dollar companies overnight. They key is adaptability. They are relatively small and flexible companies and can adapt to modern technologies. More importantly, these companies are driving the technological change. The strongest companies inspire the technological change. They are pushing the boundaries and shaping consumer habits.
This can now be done by a very small company. Anyone with an internet connection and a great idea can change the way the market behaves. This leaves the industry giants at a loss. They can’t change fast enough. They are such huge machines. Their technology turning circle is enormous. They have to start new R&D, they have to adapt to the new technology to compete. By the time they’ve done this and created a product, the young startups are already onto the next thing.
A quick look at the fate of Blackberry will confirm this. The company dominated the mobile industry. Within five years it was dead in the water. Five years was all it took for technology to move on and leave it behind. So what exactly is changing right now?
Mobile
The next big cull of companies will come for those who don’t embrace mobile technology. Not so far from now, all business and consumer activities will take place on mobile. 4G is becoming commonplace and 5G isn’t that far away. We will soon see wireless internet throughout our cities. Everything will happen on the move. That doesn’t just mean phones. Companies must plan and adapt for all portable technology. This now means internet connected watches and Google Glass.
Business can still function at the moment. People still rely on laptops and desktops but this will decline. At the very least, you need a functional mobile website now. One where you can carry out every service with simplicity from your phone. Stay future proof.
Cloud Computing
Hard drives and external storage are a thing of the past. In the future, all data will live online in the cloud. This will change the way you run your business. It will be significantly more efficient. Paper will slowly be removed entirely from offices. You can adapt to this change by installing new software that already exists. Use catalogue production by Matrix CMS to create a catalogue of data. It is easily accessible by all workers and improves the flow of your workplace.
Cloud computing will also revolutionize the way consumers use the internet. They will soon have all information synced online. Everything from their family calendars, to weekly food shops to their music collection. You must grow your business to adapt to this huge forthcoming shift.
Social Media
Social media isn’t going anywhere. It’s not a fad, or a phase. It’s a new way of life. The best companies are the ones that understand them (or own them). The big social media platforms may change over time, but their premise is here to stay. We will communicate more and more over the internet.
For businesses this means a whole new way of marketing. The biggest companies will now generate customer intimacy. It’s a skill set that never existed in marketing of old. Mass marketing used to dominate. Billboards, TV ads, radio ads. Intrusive marketing is dead. Businesses need to adapt to create relationships with their customers in a niche area.
Augmented Reality and Robotics
This is really the stuff of the future. However, they will soon be commonplace in the business world. Hologram technology already exists. We already have dead musicians playing at our festivals in hologram form. This means that we will soon be able to present ourselves in meetings in hologram. It’s the next generation of international business meetings. The technology is not quite cost effective yet, but it will be. Understand that this sort of technology is coming and learn to adapt for it.
Robotics will be the single biggest change in our work system since the industrial revolution. It will eliminate the admin sector as we know it. It will transform the way engineering works. It will completely alter thousands of industries. It is already happening with car manufacturing and other major production lines. It won’t be long before we see robotics in our offices. Be the first to adapt to this change and your business will succeed.
Technology will continue to force businesses into new and unchartered territory. It changes the way consumers behave and it forces companies to adapt. It helps new industries develop and new startups evolve. Ensure your business is flexible so you can adapt quickly. Most of all, stay up to date with technological changes.
