5 Technology Trends Every Small Business Should Focus On To Stay Ahead
You must always be able to predict what’s next and then have the flexibility to evolve. – Marc Benioff
It’s important to move with the times and evolve; as an individual, an entity or any kind of organisation. If you have a business, it is critical to stay on top of the latest technology trends in your industry and use it to improve your business. As technology continues to evolve rapidly, businesses need to embrace emerging, cutting-edge technologies before it is too late else you will run the risk of becoming an industry laggard.
We scouted the internet for reports from leading sources like the SMB Group, Cerasis, Deloitte, KPMG and many more for the 2017 technology trends for small businesses to bring you a consolidated list of tech trends your business should not miss out on! Are you and your business on top of these technology trends listed here?
Technology Trends For Small Businesses
Mobile Apps
A KPMG report has confirmed that of the 51 million MSMEs in India, 68% of them are completely offline with absolutely no online presence! In today’s day and age, it is imperative that a business has an online presence through a website, social media pages and mobile apps since all these have been proven to work. By having a mobile app for your business, you can take customer experience to a whole new level.
Globally, sales and customer service teams of small businesses have already embraced this trend and its usage is expected to rise by 140-200% over the course of the next two years. This is definitely something you don’t want to miss out on!
AI and Machine Learning
Technologies that make computer programs become “smart” are all the rage by being able to learn, change and predict patterns continuously as they receive new data. Think Siri, Cortana, Watson, Slack, etc. al. Since these require a lot of data to operate on, small businesses with large user bases can make use of AI to stay ahead of the game.
Internet of Things (IoT)
IoT is set to change how businesses and entire countries will interact with the physical world by automating data collection, data visualization analysis and measurements. Small businesses can easily deploy it and make use of this technology trend in cost saving, security improvement, developing new services and even new business models! IoT solutions to make HVAC, lighting, locks and other store equipment smart for retailers; help farmers increase crop yields; solutions to help concrete manufacturers efficiently monitor concrete strength and temperature are some examples of IoT solutions that are already in use or being developed.
Online Payments and Financing Options
Online financing options and online payments are set to grow big as entire countries and economies go digital. It’s critical for small businesses to embrace this evolving trend to keep themselves up-to-date. As more and more people lean towards convenience as a way of life, it is natural that merchants and businesses that do not have online financing facilities will end up on the losing side.
KredX is one such online invoice discounting platform that helps businesses meet their working capital requirements in 24-48 hours without any collaterals through our network of investors who in turn get high returns at low risk in a short period of time. You can explore more about KredX here.
Cloud Computing
Cloud deployment can ease the workload of a company manyfold. Not only can it be used for deployments, but it can also be used for keeping track of documents and important information that is accessible from any part of the world. Cloud security solutions can help streamline and bring order to information. There are also several collaboration tools like Facebook for Work, and Microsoft Teams that have become popular and will increasingly be so in the coming years.
For businesses that have an existing IT system in place and find it hard to migrate to the cloud due to older applications, hyper-converged infrastructure is a trending technology that can be of use to such businesses. A hyper-converged infrastructure gives many benefits of a public cloud such as fast deployment, flexibility and scalability. Public cloud also offers a range of differently priced, equivalent services. Tools like pricing calculator help businesses estimate their cloud costs before investment
There are several other technology trends like wearables, augmented reality, predictive analytics, virtual phone systems and marketing automation that are set to grow this year. The trends mentioned above are ones that most small businesses need to make use of to mold themselves into leading industry players.
Has your business embraced any of these technology trends yet? Or is your business working on any of these trends? We would love to know in the comments section below!
