Enterprises over the last few years have been more open to adopting technological advancements in their daily operations, but it looks increasingly difficult to innovate and deliver value without completely embracing new technologies. If a company wishes to survive, be it in Manufacturing, Software Services, Consumer Products or Marketing – A Technology Transformation is inevitable.
Some technologies are particularly well suited to making a tangible impact and look likely to set the tone when it comes to helping enterprises achieve digital transformations which can set them on the path to ensure consistent success and a delivery pipeline which is dependable as well as scalable.
The following list should help you understand which technology trends are destined to have lasting impacts for enterprises and why –
Machine Learning
People keep throwing about the term Machine learning, but it’s possible impacts, whether they be for the present or they are yet to happen, are unclear. This is set to change in 2019 – Machine learning is being applied as we speak in many forms. Take chatbots for example. Machine learning has allowed for chatbots which can learn from user patterns and instead of giving limited, pre-programmed answers they can interact with the user in a human-like manner. Chatbots can now take audio-visual input from the user and provide relevant results over time. Machine learning has turned these dumb bots which at one point of time were only good at taking a user’s contact info, into intelligent assistants which can handle advanced queries and provide an end-to-end solution to the user.
Cloud infrastructure is the backbone on which the future will be built
In the early days of Cloud, it was an uphill task to convince enterprises to adopt the technology. “Security Concerns” were often cited by companies as the reason as no company felt like taking the leap and potentially (in their mind) exposing their clients’ data to security risks. However, the vast investments made by cloud infrastructure providers such as Google, Amazon, and Microsoft have started paying off, and how. Security concerns have been alleviated to a large extent, and services and apps ranging from games, music providers and video content providers have been to get their customers to save their data on the cloud on a mass scale, thus successfully winning the perception battle in favor of the cloud.
Security and Privacy are more important than ever
With so many data breaches in 2017 and 2018, even a non-tech person is now aware of the value of their personal information and data. This is only extrapolated when it comes to enterprises, who understandably value their data and their customers’ data far more than the average person.
Now it is impossible to completely protect oneself from security breaches; Companies have tried and failed to install “unbreakable” security systems but even they have had limited success in preventing data theft.
What Enterprises must do, is teach employees to be proactive about security. It is essential to instill employees with best practices on how to manage their security on a day-to-day basis. While this may seem a little simplistic, it can definitely ease a company’s IT Departments’ job when it comes to ensuring security.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) making its mark on Enterprise
The term “AI” is thrown around as a marketing buzzword by almost every company these days, with manufacturers claiming products such as phone cameras, televisions, etc. come with AI embedded which can enhance their product or service.
With Enterprises, AI has a completely different focus. AI can be implemented in various ways by Enterprises to analyze their data and metrics and use them constructively.
AI Can have both small-term and long-term impacts, with the latter requiring significantly more in the form of investment (both time and money).
AI has also been used by many a CRM or Salesforce Consulting Company to greatly automate operations and improve efficiency in achieving desired goals. AI can be used to analyze customer interactions across multiple channels and data streams that a CRM would provide and use this data to deliver customer insights which would allow Enterprises to deliver on customer needs.
Blockchain
Blockchain started making an impact around 2018 but has so far mostly been used to good effect in the finance industry.
An exciting development for Blockchain is its’ vast potential in Network Security. Take SDN (Software Defined Networks) for example. Blockchain-enabled SDNs would be able to allow for Information -based transactions between various network devices, which would translate into a network that is easier to set up, more secure and performs better.
Internet of Things (IoT)
The Internet of Things (IoT) has now entrenched itself as a solid consideration for end-users in their homes in a personal capacity. Enterprises are still behind when it comes to IoT adoption, but that looks likely to change. Businesses, especially those in the shipping industry are seeing the benefits of IoT enabled vehicles. IoT devices can allow for real-time stream analysis and machine learning from and on a variety of sources, which can give enterprises valuable insights. Industrial IoT by itself is turning into a multi-billion dollar venture and this growth is expected to accelerate as more enterprises adopt IoT.
CRM platforms evolving to meet the demands posed by evolving technological processes
Customer Relationship Management platforms or CRMs have been around for a while, and have made a significantly positive impact on Enterprise operations. CRMs have had several transformative changes over the last few years which have greatly expanded their capabilities. Take mobile for example – with Salesforce Development Services, an enterprise can now have the leading provider of CRM’s services on smartphones, which can improve productivity around the clock allowing employees (especially those in Sales or similar roles) to have access to useful data when working in the field.
This is just one example – CRMs are now capable of integrating with IoT devices to gain access to new streams of data and generate useful insights. The possibilities for CRM in Enterprise are truly endless, and this trend looks likely to solidify in the coming years.
With customers being more demanding and more aware than ever before, Enterprises cannot afford to be complacent about finding innovative means to accomplish their goals in a more productive manner. Enterprises need to be proactive in adopting new technology trends which show promise, an act which by itself would spur development for that technology. By keeping abreast of the technologies mentioned above, Enterprises can build processes that allow for faster deployment and better services for their customers.
