How Technology is Changing the Face of Business

We live in turbulent times, with technology constantly creating shifts in both the world of business and our own personal lives. The old habits of getting up and going to a nine to five job are being undermined by the growing “gig economy” of casual labor done from home. Our shopping habits have been changed so drastically that many see the dooming of the traditional brick and mortar store in the next decade, if not sooner. Shopping online during your lunch break has becomes a given, so much so that entire marketing campaigns are built around the idea.

But somewhere in this quagmire of shifting needs and work habits, there are some good points. The emergence of high tech solutions means that everything from the latest runway fashions to high tech manufacturing needs such as single point moorings for production codes are now realized by big data analysis as much as by a human being.

In the final analysis, do we really have a clue what is coming down the line in the next five to ten years? Well, Forbes Magazine thinks it does and they have the stats to back them up. Here is what they have to say about the big disruptors we can look forward to seeing in the next few years.

Enter Automated Banks

While we are all so adjusted to the idea of ATMs that we don’t even consider what the three letters stand for anymore, more changes are about to come to banking. I don’t know about you but I find that between automatic deposits from work, automatic bill paying through online banking and ATMs if I need a bit of cash, I seldom see a bank teller anymore. In fact, many shipping malls have little bank branches in the mall that are basically a bank of ATMs with a single customer service rep to answer questions at a nearby desk.

Forbes predicts that the next disruptor for the banking industry will be the elimination of financial advisors and analysts by robotic advisors online. The introduction of day trading sites is a good example of how quickly this can disrupt a basic industry, and how thoroughly. The convergence of Big Data with online convenience will see this change move quickly, they predict. The relationship between banks and customers will also see a shift as the move away from personal banking continues.

The Internet of Everything Connects Us

While this idea of the internet connecting us to the world around us has been around for some time now, it is beginning to be a reality this year. Our cars can not only communicate with us, they communicate with each other. Our phones talk to us and our televisions, as well as turn off and on our lights and secure us in our homes. Home apps are becoming more common and Apple has begun to focus more on them as an expansion of their brand.

With fridges that already send you an up to date shopping list from what you have in the fridge to your watch reminding you that you have not met your walking goal for the day, we are already down that slippery slope. As we begin to connect all this various data, we will also need to be aware of how this will impact our business relationships. After all, it is easier to sell something to someone when their cellphone tells them they need it.