Throughout history, businesses of all forms have sought to develop and improve their practices and general operations. This is because there’s an acute recognition that meaningful change in business can lead to competitive advantages being gained by the firm.
Over time, a business that adapts and takes advantage of improved ways of working will be able to function more effectively, improve productivity, and satisfy their customer base to a greater degree. All these factors will help to contribute to improved profitability and may help to secure the long-term future of an organization.
In recent years, the pace of technological innovation and development has been rapid. Companies can now choose tech solutions that help them to function more effectively and competitively in an increasingly crowded global marketplace.
This article has a clear focus on some of the new and emerging technologies that are being incorporated into business practices. There’s a discussion on how businesses will be shaped in the future and how they’ll adapt or change over the coming decade.
Complete migration to the cloud
Only a few decades ago, most businesses held and ran their company applications and software programs on local servers, typically within the premises of the organization. In the last decade, there has been a mass migration of IT platforms to cloud-based locations, where they’re accessed by staff using internet connections. You can read more on the history of cloud computing here and how it has helped to revolutionize how businesses operate.
Put simply, cloud computing solutions offer businesses the ability to gain efficiency improvements and support an increasingly mobile workforce. It’s expected that in the coming decade, cloud computing solutions will be used by all forms of business, regardless of their size or scope of operations.
This will be facilitated by the mass adoption of IT systems such as an open source API gateway. API gateways provide a single point of access to deploy, monitor, and evaluate the effectiveness of cloud-based applications. In an age where cybercrime poses a direct and significant risk to all businesses, these platforms will continue to evolve in terms of the security features that are present in them.
Currently, such platforms allow IT staff to assess vulnerabilities in the individual applications and IT architecture of cloud-based systems. It’s expected that there will be an increasing reliance on AI and machine learning technologies to identify security threats to these systems as advancements are made in this field.
Increasing use of drone technology
At present, drone technologies play a vital role in several industries, but aren’t fully implemented across all types of business. For example, they are now commonly used in manufacturing industries in monitoring and plant inspection roles, where they can reduce the need for a human workforce to work from height or in unsafe environmental conditions.
They are also increasingly used in the agricultural sector where they can monitor crop yields, spray large areas of farming land, and provide real-time assessments to their operators. In 2024, the drone market for agricultural purposes is expected to grow to $1 billion as more agricultural firms begin to recognize the value of this technology in their daily business practices.
Over the next decade, it’s expected that drone usage will become a part of many more types of organizations. As technology improves and payload capacity increases, it’s likely that the logistics sector, e-commerce, and any business that needs to transport goods quickly (such as medical supplies) will begin to rely on drones in a delivery capacity.
Flexible working methods for the majority of staff
As a final key example, it’s expected that flexible working methods, such as remote and hybrid models, will be rolled out to staff in all sectors of business. For many staff, the first experience of this new way of working took place after the Covid-19 outbreak became a true pandemic. Workers needed to comply with lockdowns and movement restrictions that were put in place by governments seeking to limit the spread of the virus.
Today, technology such as fast and reliable home internet connections, cloud computing, and collaborative software platforms (such as video conferencing applications and project management software) facilitate effective remote working methods.
In the next decade, it’s expected that hybrid or fully remote models of work will become the norm for all workers, regardless of where they live or the business that they work in.
