By Raunak Haldipur
This article is part of the 2017: Changemakers series
From typewriters, through faxes, to computers and various wearable gadgets, technology always finds a way to sneak into business. Technological innovations have managed to drive progressive changes ever since the rise of the Internet and the adoption of smart devices.
A history
About ten years ago, the business world started to experience a dramatic transformation accompanied by ground-breaking communication and productivity-oriented principles. Still, the foundation for a drastic alteration was laid in several decades before that. In the 1960s, the software industry was in its infancy when it comes to its application in different businesses all around the world. Still, the use of computers began to outspread. Slowly but surely the practice of using software developments gained more value and greater-than-before business relevance.
Organisations realised the positive impact of flexible and less costly technologies, which became one of the reasons they implemented them as standard tactics. Business leaders began to seek computerised alternatives to their current approaches. Many corporate environments progressively began to implement more computerised courses of action and software-driven developments. Suddenly, big data and data analytics became really important to understand the customers better and derive insights from the data. This is only one of computers massive invasion, but it still highlights that technology shifts and as it shifts, so does the business landscape.
Smart collaboration
Making employees work as one is among the most challenging tasks that can be encountered in corporate environments. The immense diversity in terms of skills, personalities, responsibilities, working habits, the intensity of work and other factors make the objective of getting employees on the same page a little hard. However, often facilitation equals incorporation of tech and its many forms into business best practices. In this sense, different platforms such as Slack, Google Drive, Wunderlist, Asana and others, boost collaboration between teams and become the perfect project management tools a team leader can afford. Such web-based applications can be used for planning projects, outlining tasks, assigning roles, tracking progress and so on. The best part is that they support Android, iOS and Windows platforms and further enable cloud-based integration services which additionally helps improve cooperation between different sites.
Business on the move
Business is always moving. Sometimes even literally, for business people are on the move almost all time. Torn between meetings, conferences, unexpected calls, check-ups, people realise that the more mobility they have, the better they can operate. So, every industry requests optimised flexibility and opportunities for people to work on the move. In the last couple of years, companies have started to adopt the so-called teleworking in order to achieve workforce agility. To explain it in the simplest possible way, that is when members of a company use information technologies and telecommunications to work from distant locations and not necessarily from the office. Thus, the device proliferation and its integration into business allow coworkers to maintain contact with each other and with customers, regardless of whether they are at their workplace or at a coffee shop. So, it is not surprising then that technology changes business in such a way. After all, we can read, write and send emails on our phones, make video calls during a meeting or remotely join an important conference even when we are thousands of kilometres away.
New age connectedness
The world has come a long way in the recent years with the ways in which business sites connect with each other. Distances shrink, time is preserved and results are served on the table. Technology causes rapid development and evolution of connectivity. With the rise of wearable displays, business has been pushed to a new level of multi-tasking which reinforces how people reach one another. We no longer have, simply watches that indicate time and date, for instance. Instead, there are wearables that communicate the power of the tech world being able to smoothly blend into the corporate domain.
Time and Cost Savings
In many ways, technology is known to enhance the media and entertainment sector across the world. Traditionally, the sector produces large volumes of data on a daily basis so big data can be overwhelming. Having the right tools, software or equipment to deal with it is of a great importance. It can simplify the work of the personnel involved and help them discover business value buried in tons of big data. The advancement of technology delivers big data analytics applications which are able to extract insights from the collected data and, therefore, result in better-informed decisions. Using such technology reduces not only time spent on a single task but also cuts down additional expenses, while retaining quality and regulatory requirements.
Changing business models
In the last 5-10 years, interesting things have been happening when it comes to business models of various businesses. They have completely changed. Uber, the worlds largest taxi company, owns no vehicles. Facebook, the worlds most popular media owner, creates no content. Alibaba, the most valuable retailer, has no inventory. Airbnb, the worlds largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate.Thus, one of the most significant changes that technology has delivered business-wise can be found in the face of new business models which generate more value. These business models largely depend on the escalating use of technology and cloud computing.
According to a study report made by Oxford Economics, about 44% of enterprises take advantage of cloud computing in an attempt to unveil new business models today. The report predicts the percentage will jump to 55% in the next three years. Companies move away from old paradigms which involve one person getting all the work done. With the help of cloud computing, a developer, for example, can get an application directly from the internet and can work to improve it or alter it so that it can match the platform he or she wants to apply it to.
What’s to follow
Taking into consideration the opportunities which derive from technology, it will come as no surprise to find out that many business functions migrate to the cloud with every passing day. The realistic view of the influence of cloud-based technologies urges more and more business owners to choose the cloud, while harvesting value propositions and revenue streams.
Finally, after the Industrial Revolution, the business world remained unchained for about a century or so. Considering how rapidly technology is developing nowadays, it is safe to conclude that businesses which do not embrace technology with open arms are bound to become less relevant. About 20 years ago, due to their size and weight, mobile phones could be said to have been used primarily as weapons, no cloud computing existed and there were no wearables that would enable business owners to check their emails on the move. Technology has improved every aspect of the way any business functions. The most impressive part is that never before, in the history of humankind has such revolution happened so fast.
Featured Image Source: Pixabay