How does changes in technology affect a business

Think about the machines which are used to print on the t-shirts you buy, the computer servers which are used to keep up the website s you own, or the fuel used to power the car s you drive. Technology hugely dictates the way many things are done, in business or otherwise. Automation — The automation of many unskilled tasks can allow companies to replace human production lines with entirely machine ones.

Cloud technologies provide the foundation for becoming more agile, collaborative and customer-focused". Cloud computing allows businesses to move some of their operations to third-party servers accessible via Internet connectivity.

This allows for variable data packages and rapid on-demand expansion and mobility without the fear of downtime, crashes, or permanently lost data. Companies adopting the cloud can innovate quickly, scale efficiently and even bring new market capabilities more quickly.

This has allowed small to medium-sized businesses access to resources that would have been cost-prohibitive for them in the past and evened the playing field when competing against corporations with far more funding. Teams are working more closely together toward the common goals of meeting or exceeding growth targets. Through the alignment of service, sales, marketing, and IT, business operations evolve and implement more streamlined business processes to bridge organizational gaps.

As mentioned above, digital transformation has been critical to increasing a business' productivity. Adding new tech to the stack helps decrease costs through time savings, speed to market, inventory management, and reduced production costs have helped businesses optimize to bring value to the enterprise and generate revenue. Forbes says:. The companies that do invest in this function Business Operations can make better use of automation technology and increase their efficiency and engender happier, more inspired employees as they're safeguarding themselves with greater adaptivity.

Those who aren't are only taking on more risk. The rise of technology does have downsides. It seems like there isn't any downtime for individuals to recuperate anymore. Even the coveted American tradition of vacation has become a thing of the past. We always have access to email, text messages, or "work" via laptops or tablets. And while your intention may be to get away from things for a while, it's more likely than not that you'll succumb to the temptation of "checking in" at least once.

And when you do, it's over. Regardless of your personal opinion—Luddite or technophile—the rapid advance of technology will not slow any time soon.

More and more businesses that fail to adapt will find themselves left behind, while the savvy ones who learn to keep up will reap the rewards. You don't have to rebuild your business from the ground up—there's some kernel of merit that's allowed you to enjoy success thus far.

The reality of business today is that technology will continue to force them to adapt and adopt or risk extinction. Business intelligence BI is a technology-driven process for analyzing data and presenting useful information to help executives, managers and other end users make informed business decisions. The potential benefits of using BI tools include accelerating and improving decision-making, optimizing internal business processes, increasing operational efficiency, driving new revenues and gaining competitive advantage over business rivals.

BI systems can also help companies identify market trends and spot business problems that need to be addressed. In short, BI technologies allow a business to view their operations, past, present and future. BI technologies handle large amounts of data to help identify, develop and otherwise create new strategic business opportunities. Identifying new opportunities and implementing an effective strategy based on insights can provide businesses with competitive market advantage and long-term profitability.

The video below will provide you with an overview of how a company can use BI to improve its outcomes and attain its goals. BI is most effective when it combines data derived from the market in which a company operates external data with data from company sources internal to the business such as financial and operations data internal data. Business intelligence tools empower organizations to gain insight into new markets, to assess demand and suitability of products and services for different market segments and to gauge the impact of marketing efforts.

It has been used widely by businesses for decades, but in the past, only the information technology experts within a business had access to a few, highly complex BI tools and applications. As technology has evolved; however, there now exists a broad range of BI tools that a company can employ.

Additionally, this new generation of BI tools are typically fairly simple to use so now a broader range of users within the business are able to get involved in analyzing and using data to make decisions. The result is that rather than the historical approach of just a few highly specialized data people being the only ones with visibility into the data, now people such as managers, supervisors, sales associates, and marketing specialists can leverage the power of internal and external data to their benefit and to the benefit of the organization.

This would allow us to gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace as well as increase retail customer, shopper and shareholder value. Technology creates environments that provide utmost security for sensitive information involving both the business and its consumers.

Nowadays, many kinds of business software come equipped with their own tools and features. Aside from being secure, these tools are also user-friendly. Even small businesses are now able to reach national or even international markets. Online shops are abundant on the internet, and consumers are now able to purchase products and services worldwide with just a few quick clicks of the mouse.

Technological developments have paved the way for customer bases to be expanded on a global scale and have certainly changed the way consumers shop.

Markets share the commonality of being prone to change, and those that make heavy use of technology tend to undergo the most change over time. Hence, it has become important for technology-dependent businesses to know how to adapt to quick shifts in the market at any given moment.

Modern advancements have certainly made adapting to market changes a lot easier, with solutions that are straightforward and designed to aid in the ability of a business to adapt.

Operations will adapt to this new workflow as necessary. Nowadays, customers are able to utilize texts, calls, emails, and even instant messaging to communicate with companies.