Today enterprises have realized the importance of having a digital business model to succeed in highly competitive and frugal consumer markets. A recent study about the State of Digital Business Transformation by IDG has revealed that on an average an enterprise can increase its business revenue through a digital model by around 23 %. Start-ups, on the other hand, can achieve nearly 34% growth in revenue since they can adapt to digital transformation faster. The key driver of attention for a digital-first business model is the untapped insights that lay beneath swaths of enterprise data. These have the potential to offer better customer experiences, create new revenue channels, improve organizational efficiency, streamline business processes and increase employee satisfaction. In 2018, we believe the following 5 technologies will be at the centre of all digital transformation initiatives globally.
Internet of Things
Every business is becoming a tech company and IoT is a key element in that transition. Networked machines and sensors within organizations are supplying crucial operational data to help stakeholders make real-time decisions on the go. In fact, intelligent automation is made possible with an IoT centric production ecosystem especially for companies that are engaged in the manufacture of products. In 2018, it is estimated that there will be more than 20 billion connected devices globally and thus IoT finds the immense potential to transform consumer experiences by taking personalization to the next level. Sectors such as healthcare, entertainment and media would focus on the delivery of personalized content to wearables and smart home devices. The investments are sure to pour in for industrial IoT as well especially targeting improvements in areas like supply chain efficiency, logistics streamlining, factory environment monitoring and automation, peak load handling in power plants and smart assembly lines.
Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence
While most consumers still perceive AI to grow into an apocalypse as in the Terminator movie series, enterprises have begun to treat AI as a key element in their success formula today. Consumers of today want companies to predict their needs and serve it to them before they seek it out. In fact, by 2020, nearly 57% of all business consumers will want this predictive capability from enterprises according to a report prepared by Salesforce. To achieve this capability of predicting consumer behaviour, enterprises need to rely on high-end machine learning. We have already covered how machine learning can generate revenue for businesses and be impactful in multiple areas. More the data that organizations can curate from its customer fronts, more would be the ability of machine learning algorithms to predict customer and deliver personalized results.
Blockchain
2017 witnessed the phenomenal growth story of Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency that reached a peak value of more than $19,000 per unit. While many are aware of the currency, it is the underlying technology of blockchain that is of significant interest to the business world. Blockchain can be a significant contributor to digital transformation initiatives in 2018. From the financial sector to retail to government platforms, over $2.1 billion is expected to spend on blockchain solutions in 2018 according to IDC. Blockchain brings to the table a host of trust factors like transparency, data immutability, real-time privacy assurance, etc. which is vital for data-driven digital business models. Since any digital initiative requires data to be channelled from consumers, devices and operational environments, maintaining trust are of significant importance and blockchain is the perfect answer to this question.
Mobile first to Mobile only
This technology trend is more significant for consumer-facing businesses. Take for example today’s most popular consumer service providers companies like Uber or the world’s most popular messaging app WhatsApp. Their entire business model relies on just a mobile app. For companies to achieve such massive operational scale from just an app-based business model, the technology advancements for the underlying IT infrastructure need to be massive. This is where enterprises can rely on cloud-based innovations like PaaS, Serverless Architecture and much more to create scalable business models with just technology at the forefront.
Read: Server-less Real-Time Analytic Platforms
Big Data Analytics
Big data analytics is not new to enterprises, but nearly all the above technologies we covered have made an enormous impact on how big data systems are utilized in enterprises today. From simple analytical processing a couple of years ago, today big data tools have grown into massive multi-dimensional decision frameworks that collaborate with multiple information systems across the enterprise. With data coming in from AI systems, connected devices via IoT systems, consumer data flowing in through social media and other channels, enterprise big data systems have evolved into a must-have element in an enterprise IT architecture irrespective of the business domain. The contributions it can make for overall digital transformation is immense and no CIO or CTO can afford to miss out on big data platforms if they are to thrust forward with digital first initiatives in their organizations.
So, there you have it folks, our picks for the best 5 technology innovations that aid in digital transformation today. It is vital to have a clear-cut path to digital adoption because if you don’t then no amount of specialization in these 5 technologies would be able to generate ROI. You need to have a strategic technology partner that can identify data sources, implement the right digital tools, power up the prediction with intelligent analytics and drive smart automation across your entire business value chain. This is where Perfomatix can be your ideal companion. Write to us to know how we can help set you on the path to becoming a truly digital enterprise in 2018.
