As technology evolves, people who conduct business continue trying to keep up, implementing it in all facets of their industry to improve and increase efficiency. Whether these technologies have been around for some time and developed, or they were recently introduced and applied, there's no doubt they're revolutionizing commerce.
With that said, here are six tech trends that'll change how people conduct business in 2014.
Big data studies a variety of sources that include detailed information about purchase histories, intelligence from industry partners, and customer relationship management. Essentially, big data analytics have focused on greater customer intelligence. But three trends have continued to grow in relation to big data that'll continue to do so in 2014:
Clouding computing is one of the fastest growing technologies on this list, with a prediction that U.S. businesses will spend more than$13 billion on it by the end of 2014. Gartner suggests that with the increased usage of networks, the cost of them, the ability to manage bandwidth and the increasing power and capability of new mobile devices "creates incentives, in some cases, to minimize the cloud application computing and storage footprint, and to exploit the intelligence and storage of the client device." Consumers will continue to expect more complex and advanced ways to use their mobile devices, which will greatly increase the demand for server-side computing and levels or data storage.
Three-dimensional printing became highly popular in 2013, and 2014 will be the year that this (now) cost-effective means of production will begin to have a widespread effect on business. Growth and demand for 3D printers is expected to increase by 75% in 2014, further integrating deeper into business processes and production. According to this Wall Street Journal article, U.S. executives worry about the costs associated with manufacturing goods in countries like China. With that in mind, it'll be less appealing for companies to conduct business overseas considering those costs. Although 3D printing won't reach its full potential in 2014, it'll start to have an effect on business and production in the U.S, with even faster growth expected in 2015 by 200%.
The business world is moving beyond the era of standalone devices into one where everything connects, everything from TV's, watches, refrigerators, cars and more together. If you look at this chart that highlights the advancement of the Internet of Things technological movement, you'll notice that 2014 is when the ascent into widespread popularity takes place.
Many technology venders and enterprises have yet to fully implement and take complete advantage of the incredible potential of the expanded internet, many are only now becoming systematically and organizationally equipped. Gartner determines four emerging usage models that arise from this, they are:
These models can be applied to most things, from people to information, places and more, hence the Internet of everything.
As long as business people have an Internet connection to a service provider like Verizon, smart devices offer them the flexibility to communicate with customers and conduct transactions on the go. Although devices like smartphones and tablets continue to lead the way in 2014, providing a wealth of mobility options and increasing productivity as a result, the future in smart technology is in machines. According to this insightful article, Gartner predicts that smart machines will have a widespread impact in business through 2020 - and it starts in 2014.
BYOD has slowly been gaining traction in recent years, but it's expected that 2014 will finally be the year when companies go mobile. Essentially, this tech trend allows personal mobile devices to connect to company networks. Although there are some security risks involved with the program, the biggest benefits include company savings and increased employee productivity. As more people purchase smartphones, you can expect this trend to skyrocket as companies implement safeguard policies and take advantage of this technological trend.
These six emerging tech trends are just the tip of the iceberg as far ones that are changing business. With many companies striving to innovate the next big thing, there's no telling where we'll be in just 12 months from now.
What other tech trends have you noticed that are changing that way people conduct business?