Staying ahead of your competition these days means mastering the use of technology to enhance productivity, improve customer service, and expand capabilities.
One constant of technology is that it’s always evolving, and those new evolutions can change the way we do business significantly.
Take cloud computing as an example, in the past decade it’s completely transformed offices, connecting teams like never before. It’s improved business continuity and given businesses the ability to use remote workers either in part or completely have no physical office at all.
Small businesses that use technology effectively earn 2x as much revenue per employee.
What other new transformative technologies are on the way this decade?
Being top IT consultants in North and Central New Jersey means following the newest trends so we can keep our clients informed. Following are some of the technologies that will be changing the way we work in 2020 and beyond.
Business-Changing Technologies Coming Your Way
Technology itself is not only accelerating, but also the rate at which it is adopted. For example, the dishwasher was invented in 1886, and it wasn’t until 1990 that households had 50% adoption, about a century later. But when it comes to tablets, like the iPad, it went from 0% to 50% adoption in just 5 years.
So, if you want to take advantage of new technologies time is of the essence. What’s transformative today, might just be a steppingstone for what becomes the norm tomorrow.
Here are the digital tools that promise to advance offices this decade.
Virtual Desktops
The concept of the virtual desktop has been around for a few years, but it hasn’t really taken off on a grand scale yet. But look for complete office virtualization to become the new norm in offices around the world thanks to Microsoft making their Windows Virtual Desktop globally available as of September 2019.
Virtual workstations are the next logical step in cloud computing. With most offices already using one or more cloud platforms, why not bring their desktop to the cloud as well? It allows for easier management, better security, fast deployment for new staff, and reduces hardware costs. Plus, virtual desktops remove one more tie to a physical location and allows someone to take their PC with them wherever they go.
Democratization of Expertise
The philosophy behind the term “democratization of expertise” is to take technologies that have been more expensive for businesses to deploy due to the expertise needed to use them and make them easier, so even a novice could take advantage of them – removing expertise and cost barriers.
One current example of this is Microsoft’s Power Apps platform. It allows someone without any coding experience to build a custom business application using a drag-and-drop style interface.
This advancement is going to be great for small businesses that have wanted to take advantage of certain technologies that have previously been out of their price range and skillset.
5G/Wi-Fi6 Powered IoT Deployment
The Internet of Things (IoT) has already been growing, with technologies like smart security cameras, smart lighting, and more popping up in homes and offices.
While growth has been steady over the past few years, it’s expected to explode this decade thanks to the connection speed improvements of technologies like 5G and Wi-Fi 6. The global IoT market is expected to grow from $212 billion in 2019 to $1,612 billion in 2025.
You only have to look at your local Walmart stores this year to see how human checkouts are being replaced by self-checkouts powered by IoT technologies. Expect more practical uses of IoT being deployed in offices to do things like offer customized automated assistants (i.e. Alexa for business) and take on manual and repetitive tasks.
Autonomous Driving
Driverless cars have been a technology that people talk about, but we’re not yet at the point where we get into a “Johnny Cab” with no driver like they used in the sci-fi movie Total Recall. But this technology will also get big boost from 5G connection speeds that allow for faster deployment of data to and from the vehicle.
Before driverless technology becomes big on public roads and highways, it’s going to be deployed first in smaller settings such as large factories that use golf carts to get around or forklifts that move the same assets back and forth multiple times per day.
Look for areas of a business where this type of driverless “helper vehicle” can be used, and you’ll find autonomous vehicles being developed and trialed in these types of settings, and likely to go from “test” to “norm” during this decade.
Personal Profiling
There’s already a big debate on how much of our personal information is shared on platforms like Facebook and what advertisers are doing with that information. Some feel it’s invasive, while others like to have personalized ads that cater to their likes.
While motion activated screens that tout a product’s benefits as you walk by are already being used at retailers, they’re not yet personalized. Look at that to change this decade as personalized online ads go offline.
This can mean something like advertising diapers on a screen to a new parent or pointing someone that enjoys the outdoors to a new line of camping gear. Beyond the retail experience, imagine if you went to the dentist and a reception screen already knew who you were there to see and told you exactly how many minutes until Dr. Smith would be ready to see you.
There are multiple possibilities with personal profiling, some more controversial and others more helpful.
Schedule a Technology Consulting Session with Technology Visionaries
How can you best position yourself to take advantage of new technologies this decade? A consulting session with Technology Visionaries can give you insight into which new advances make the most sense for your company and how to best take advantage of them.
Schedule your consultation today by calling us at 732-587-5960 or using our contact form.