With every passing year comes another leap in technology. For every advance in a smartphone comes a self-driving car, and with every leap in business methods comes advanced business tech. 2016 was a big year for crafting and improving on the standard business tech, so what does 2017 have in store for us? And what trends can we be looking towards now so that you can get ahead of the curve now?
IoT
IoT is short for the “Internet-of-Things” and is based on the increased communication between machines. The idea is that, using cloud computing and networks of sensors that gather data, it will increase communication between systems and start to make everything “smart.” In short, it is going be a major signpost of systems being able to gather data from customers without the need of people actually doing the menial work. We have seen what business systems like CRM’s can do for the relationship between the customer and business in terms of data gathering, this next step will start to become an indispensible tool in the running of any customer-oriented business or any company where sales are important i.e. every single one!
While there is not enough collaboration in terms of the big companies developing smart tech, 2017 will look like there will be some major advancements in the setup of smart tech to benefit homes and, bi-proxy, will be a key component of a small business that is run at home.
Machine Learning
Following on from the smart tech trends, Machine Learning has shown little progress in the last year, save for its limited useage on apps. In 2017, it looks like it will explode, making the marketing aspect of a business run practically by itself. While we have seen recccomendations on Facebook or Pinterest based on your search history, this will explode onto any app you could think of, further increasing the involvement of machine to a consumer’s user experience. Using details such as a person’s search history, the ability of Machine Learning to generate what it thinks will be a good match for a customer will no doubt become the norm in 2017. With the rise in tech will come a more savvy IT support provider that will give you more detailed services.
Automation
A big worry for many a menial worker, automated processes will become more prevalent in 2017. As tech becomes more advanced, it may look like that the data entry and admin based tasks of the past will become redundant. Looking at it from the small business perspective, combining automation with Machine Learning, it could truly become a big year for productivity based jobs and will make a lot a business owners see the light when it comes to who is the faster worker, man or machine?
Watch Out, There’s A Robot Behind You: 2016 In Automation
The future is now, and as the lines are blurring between the physical and the digital, from ordering online to collecting in person, this will only become more interchangeable. And where does this leave the world of business? Pedaling hard to catch up. Otherwise you will be left in the dust.