The transformation of the business world into a unified global digital network is as awesome as it is irresistible. As a businessperson, it is breathtaking to be a part of this new post-industrial revolution. At the same time, you have the feeling that changes are occurring too rapidly for one person to comprehend.
Fortunately, technology itself helps you stay abreast of the latest changes that increase your productivity. As overwhelming as all these new developments can be, you might easily overlook the reality that at last three separate evolutions are taking place simultaneously, combining to allow the business world to go fully digital. These three evolutions are, of course, technology—all the fun computer hardware and software you rely on; infrastructure—the newly emerging foundation that powers your tech; and business—literally, a whole world of possibilities is at your feet.
Remember That Infrastructure Makes the Tech World Possible
It has not been too long ago that getting on the internet meant paying for a free, dedicated landline from the phone company, dialing up a number, and listening for the squawk that preceded your connection. Those were the days before lightning-fast, constant internet came through optical cable and then through broadband. The potential for the astonishing capabilities of tech can only be achieved as the infrastructure to support it evolves. When that underlying support system falters, your whole business foundation stumbles as well. For instance, have you ever had gremlins cause malfunctions with your electronic equipment that knocked your whole system offline? So often the underlying problem was with something you took for granted, like your power supply. Often, you just need to check your transformer rating.
Consider the Latest Tech Advances
The numerous advances of technology across the digital spectrum are sometimes so dazzling that it is difficult to sort out which of them are the most significant. Recently, Forbes published a rundown of those tech advances that hold the most promise for enhancing the productivity and profitability of businesses:
- Universal connectivity. Frequently called “the internet of things,” this is a reference to the growing ability to run all electronic devices in your home and business via the internet.
- 5G technology. Though this level of connectivity is just now coming online, its potential to increase internet speeds by factors of 10 to 100 times causes forecasters to say its advent will signal a totally new digital age.
- Artificial intelligence (AI). If 5G is the new superhighway on which you will travel, AI is the driver capable of handling the speed.
Reflect On What Tech Has Already Enabled You to Do
If your company has gone fully digital, you will recall a number of benefits your business accrued even beyond this brief list. Perhaps the first thing you noticed was the increased speed at which data retrieval, financial transactions, and inventory issues were handled. Productivity immediately increased. Your marketplace expanded exponentially, as did your resource and supply pool. You found you had more hard information with which to make decisions and there were many new software tools to assist in that process. Business projections were more pliable, with more accessible variables to plot. When unexpected events impacted your business, you had more options—and more collegial examples—to draw from in order to deal with the unforeseen. Oddly enough, these new, complex technologies actually simplified your business and gave you a greater ability to help it thrive.
Dream About Future Capabilities
As astonishing as your digital tech world is currently, the future holds even greater amazing possibilities, and they will become realities. A cursory check of conceptual tech ideas now being developed reveals more than 30 potential categories of tech advances that will have a profound impact on human life—not to mention the way you do business. Some of these ideas are not too hard to wrap your mind around: highly advanced memory storage, 6G broadband communication, enhanced virtual reality, and speech recognition. Other new ideas being pursued are intriguing: self-checking sales items, machines that understand what they are seeing, creating digitalized “smart communities” and quantum computers with virtually unlimited speed and storage.
Conclusion
Tech placed the world at your feet and gave you the ability to succeed masterfully as a businessperson. Now tech is placing the future at your feet as well.