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The Current State of Business Tech

Revel Systems | January 6, 2022 |

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The Current State of Business Tech

Technology has quickly become the driving force of the global business landscape. The businesses that innovated first consistently came to dominate their industries. 

Today, it might feel like technologies for business are evolving at a breakneck pace. It’s not just a feeling; it’s a reality. The advent of the Internet and the increasing globalization of the world mean innovations are felt instantly. 

As a result, you are competing not only with local businesses, but global businesses. Here’s what you need to know about new technology in the business world.

Technology for Business

The question is, why is technology for business moving so quickly? Innovation has always happened, but the enforced workplace changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic have accelerated progress. 

Entrepreneurs have been forced to innovate. New business tech isn’t going away, even as the pandemic subsides. Likewise, the old ways of doing things are not coming back, no matter how much people collectively yearn for them.

Organizations investing in new technology in business will get the jump on their competitors, and their faith in upgrading the way they do things will pay dividends. It’s not a matter of where the next breakthrough will come from, but when.

New Technology in the Business World

New technologies in business tend not to be a big bang moment but a gradual move toward full implementation. In this section, we discuss the new technology in businesses set to change the world in the years to come.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI has been around for a few years now, but it’s gradually becoming more prominent across society. It alters the way everyone lives, works, and plays. 

Its superiority in navigation, speech recognition, image recognition, and more is what makes it a game-changer. 

AI’s role in making connections and providing insights will change everything from detecting customer behaviors to analyzing demand for essential services in settings like hospitals. 

By 2025, the AI market is predicted to become a $190 billion industry. In other words, AI is on the cusp of (finally) spreading its wings.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Automation has been the major trend driving innovation for years now. One of the most exciting pieces of technology used in business is RPA. 

This technology uses software to automate business processes like transaction processing, managing data, and interpreting applications. RPA is doing many of the repetitive tasks humans used to do, such as replying to emails. 

And RPA is a gamechanger, as Forrester Research predicts it will impact 9% of the global workforce. McKinsey further elaborates by saying 60% of all jobs could be partially automated, and RPA will play a major role in that.

Quantum Computing

Formerly the domain of sci-fi and shady government agencies, quantum computing has made its grand debut during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Quantum computing is a business tech solution that can monitor and analyze data across all sources. This is why the banking and financing sectors are using quantum computing to detect fraud and manage risk. Innovations in this sector are coming from major brands like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft.

The Best Technology in Business

Those three emerging technologies in business are set to drive multiple innovations over the next decade. Some technology for businesses is already here, spurred on by the need for organizations to keep people safe throughout the pandemic. 

If your organization has yet to embrace this technology for businesses, you are at risk of falling behind.

Remote Working Technology

The concept of remote working has been around for years, but COVID-19 forced it upon millions of businesses worldwide. Interestingly, organizations discovered the traditional office can be surplus to requirements. Why pay expensive commercial rental costs when you can get the same results without them?

Zoom, Google Hangouts, and Microsoft Teams are three of the big names that took advantage of the pandemic environment with their video conferencing technology. Furthermore, visual collaboration tools from startups like Bluescape, Figma, and Tandem are allowing businesses to perform all necessary operations from the virtual office. 

What’s more, this new remote working technology is cost-effective and accessible to even small businesses.

Contactless Operations

Contactless operations are seemingly here to say. The U.S. alone has seen a 20% increase in the number of people actively preferring contactless operations. No-contact deliveries are now the norm in the food delivery business, for example, Postmates, Instacart, and DoorDash all offer this option. 

Pickup_delivery sign

The demand is clear. Customers want to avoid the spread of COVID-19 by not entering into any physical contact. Most brick-and-mortar retail stores now offer contactless payment options for in-store transactions. 

Financial institutions are facilitating more customers to go cash-free, a trend that accelerated significantly with the pandemic. The Revel Systems POS is a perfect example of a solution that enables businesses to meet the contactless needs of their customers by providing a safe, convenient way to pay.

Introduction of 5G Internet Technology

Working from home means that there’s more demand than ever for higher-speed Internet. With a desire to create better-connected homes, autonomous transport, and smart cities, tech companies have responded with the development of 5G and eventually 6G Internet. 

While the infrastructure to support 5G was already scheduled before COVID-19, the coming of the pandemic has encouraged big companies like Verizon to push their schedules forward. 

Combine 5G with the coming of affordable satellite Internet from providers like Starlink, and more places will have coverage than ever before. As of this writing, more than 35 countries have already launched their commercial 5G services, with countless more expected to follow in the next 18 months.

The Benefits of New Technologies for Business

New technologies in business are often a headache because nobody wants to make the first move. Most CEOs don’t start thinking about new business tech until there’s an urgent need. This is a philosophy of following, rather than leading. So, why should your organization always be looking into new technology in business?

Streamline Collaboration

Technology has already improved workplace productivity by streamlining how employees collaborate. Virtual private networks (or VPNs), the cloud, and mobile solutions have enhanced global collectivity while offering a secure sandbox to send and receive data. 

Fast Internet connections have made it easier to always stay in contact, regardless of the physical location of your employees. With remote working set to become the norm in the post-pandemic world, investing in technologies in business is essential.

More Efficient Manufacturing Techniques

Technology improves how businesses create the goods they sell. Automation, AI, and machine learning allow businesses to operate faster and more efficiently than they ever could before. 

In a world where people are unwilling to wait, efficient production done at lightning speeds will elevate your organization above all the others. 

Furthermore, the power of automation means many common repetitive tasks can now be done by a machine, which helps to cut down on the overall costs of manufacturing.

Know What Customers Want

Businesses have been betting on understanding what their customers want since the dawn of time. This adventure was largely a matter of hitting and hoping in the past, but things have changed. 

The power of data and more effective ways of decoding what that data means has empowered businesses to better understand consumer trends and behaviors. Technology has made predicting the needs of customers easier. 

With more insights into what your target market wants, you can produce the products and services that meet their needs. Ultimately, this leads to greater profits and less waste.

New Sales Techniques

Opening up new sales avenues is only possible via embracing new technology. Take social media as a perfect example of this. Emerging technology gave rise to social media, and now every business looks to sell through various platforms. 

Keeping your finger on the pulse of new technology will enable you to create new streams of income and alternate ways of communicating with your ideal customer. 

Businesses that fall behind will never find that blue water territory in which to operate. Instead, they are further scratching and clawing for every inch of progress.

Encourage More Innovation

New technology in businesses encourages innovation in multiple ways. Firstly, all innovations are layered on top of the innovations that came before. You can’t have satellite Internet without NASA. You can’t have Facebook without the Internet. Organizations embracing business tech give themselves a platform in which to innovate, so rather than playing catch-up, they are on the front lines.

Another way adopting a stance of incorporating new technology delivers results is it encourages the top talent to join you. There’s a huge global talent shortage in tech, and the best don’t want to work with outdated, archaic systems. 

Demonstrate that you’re a forward-thinking organization determined to change the world and your brand instantly becomes more attractive.

Conclusion

Technology changes the world every day, and no business can escape its influence. The question is whether you want to be finding out about new advances a year later or be the one pioneering those advances?

Upgrade your business today with the help of Revel Systems. Our revolutionary POS platform makes business operations easier than ever in a post-pandemic world. To learn more about how the right platform can transform your company, contact us today.