From typewriters, through faxes, to computers and various wearable gadgets, technology always finds a way to sneak into business. Poking core strategies with a finger and kicking cumbersome outdatedness with a leg, technological innovations have managed to drive progressive changes ever since the rise of the Internet and the adoption of smart devices. Arguably, 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. Concretely speaking, in 1960’s the software industry, for example, 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 and slowly but surely the practice of using software developments gained more value and greater than before business-relevance.
Organizations realized 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 computerized alternatives to their current approaches. Abandoning yesterday’s tech in the yesterday, company owners acknowledged that the present tech had the potential to develop fast enough to grow into an inseparable part of tomorrow’s human behavior. In this sense, digital tendencies started to come out to the surface and replaced the paper-based business fashion that existed for a long time. This way, many corporate environments progressively began to implement more computerized courses of action and software-driven developments. On the whole, from small to big-sized organizations, they chose to rely on machines which could “think” almost like humans. Despite the fact that this is only one of the countless examples of computers’ massive invasion, it still highlights that technology shifts and as it shifts, so does the business landscape.
The question here is in what ways does technology change business?
- INCREASED 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, intensity of work and other factors make the objective of getting employees on the same page a little bit harder. However, we live in a world where quite so often facilitation equals incorporation of tech and its many forms into business’ best practices. In this sense, different platforms such as Trello, Wunderlist, Asana etc., 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, iPhone and Windows platforms and further enable cloud-based integration services which additionally helps improve cooperation between different sites.
- WORKFORCE AGILITY
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 realize that the more mobility they have, the better they can operate. So every industry requests optimized flexibility and opportunities for people to work on the move. In the last couple of years, companies have started to adapt 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 allows 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’s 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 kilometers away.
- REVOLUTIONIZED CONNECTEDNESS
We have 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. Just like the previous two points stated above, technology causes rapid development and evolution of connectivity. With the rise of wearable displays, business has been pushed to a new level of hyper-tasking which reinforces how people reach to one another. We no longer have, simply, watches that indicate time and date, for instance. What we have now instead is wearables that communicate the power of the tech world being able to smoothly blend in the corporate domain.
- TIME AND COST EFFICACY
In many ways technology is known to enhance healthcare across the world. Traditionally, the sector produces large volumes of data on a daily basis so big data can be a bit overwhelming. Nevertheless, having the right tools, software or equipment to deal with it is of a great importance. It can truly 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. But that’s not all. Using such technology reduces not only time spent on a single task but also cuts down additional expenses, while still retaining quality record keeping, patient care and compliance with regulatory requirements.
- UPGRADED BUSINESS MODELS
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. And firms aim for more value. Precisely, these business models largely depend on the escalating use of cloud computing. According to a study report made by Oxford Economics, about 44% of enterprises take advantage of cloud computing in attempt to unveil new business models today. What is interesting is that the report predicts the percentage will jump to 55% in the next three years. So companies move away from old paradigms which involve one person getting all the work done. Thanks to 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.
(Image source: Forbes)
Taking into consideration the opportunities which derive from cloud services, 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’s impossible to happen now. On the contrary. Contemporary business landscapes transform and progress from the ground up due to the array of innovative approaches, trends and developments that emerge all the time. And in case you have any doubts in regards to how business has altered over time, have a look at what we had about 20 years ago. Because of 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. With this in mind, we can say that technology has improved every aspect of the way any business functions. But what’s even more impressive, never before in the history of humankind has such revolution happened so fast.
