There has been a lot of talk about how consumer technology has evolved and its effect on our lifestyle etc. Here are few examples of how technological revolutions have impacted (or will impact) on the way we do business.
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Cloud Computing:
Heard of cloud computing? I bet many of you will be actually sick of hearing it now! I am pretty sure going on cloud helps a lot of small and big companies not only in terms of reduced infrastructural requirements (which in turn means cost savings!) but also the way companies redesign their strategies around it.
Amazon, for example, is already big on providing cloud computing through its EC2 web services. Microsoft has also jumped on the bandwagon with its Online Office services. So there are a lot of interesting things happening which would change the way business was done traditionally.
Watch out for: Google’s Chrome OS aka “GDrive” aka cloud operating system
Online Social Involvement:
All right this one is a cliché right? Yes maybe but I want to emphasize more on how people are spending money buying all these virtual stuff. Business adapting models around social media are becoming immensely popular.
These firms take advantage of a huge social media population and engage these consumers into adopting almost a different life on cloud. They typically build products to be sold online or sometimes a platform to sustain their business. Second life is a good example of how businesses are utilizing this latest trend.
Watch out for: IBM’s CityOne
Voice over Internet:
Another sector that is being revolutionizing the businesses. For example, there is a lot of stress these days on virtual conferencing, live-meetings etc. and all this is to reduce costs and efforts in organizing in-personal meetings.
Cisco and other companies are big on this and have been coming up with really innovative ideas to reduce the overhead of making phone calls. SMEs benefit from the cost benefit too. Skype, Yahoo and others have already changed the way we made phone calls traditionally but I guess there is no limit to innovation or it there?
Watch out for: Google Voice
Mobile Payments:
A much needed and less evolved technology trend especially in Indian perspective. We desperately need business offering innovative mobile payments for our rural and a portion of urban population as well. Mobile payment also solves the problem of online fraud and credit card issues many of us face.
With Internet penetration not growing at expected pace, small and medium businesses will improve their value chain by integrating mobile payment systems in years to come. While mCheck has already initiated the process yet the problem is dependency on credit cards, bank accounts etc. What we really need is a mobile-Western-Union sort of service, where my rural client transfers the payment at a local general store and it gets mobile-transferred (either in form of airtime or cash at counters etc) to me quickly. Lots of NGOs and Non-Profit organization are exploring this area but we need one of the big telcos to step in.
Watch out for: Not sure…but paymate could be one..
[Examples courtesy: Monster.com]
What other tech trends do you think will impact businesses?
