The following blog post from SC&H Group’s IT Advisory Services practice discusses why 2016 is shaping up to be a year of digital transformation.
By 2020, more than seven billion people and businesses, and at least 30 billion devices, will be connected to the Internet. As a result, many experts believe that the tech-driven economy is here to stay – unlike the initial dotcom bubble of the late 1990s.
In fact, 2016 is shaping up to be a year of digital transformation. From the ubiquitous rise of drones to location-based solutions for retail to the Internet of Things (IoT), we will see a new world of innovation changing how we do business.
To navigate these rapidly changing waters, businesses must adapt their IT strategies to remain competitive. This is why we are taking a closer look at the “Top 10 Technology Driven Hard Trends Shaping 2016,” from Daniel Burris, the renowned futurist and New York Times best-selling author. These insights can provide a great way to jump-start your IT strategies this year.
Let’s dive into these trends, which are listed below:
- The Continuing Rise of Shadow IT: Businesses will gravitate towards attractive Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions that can be incorporated into operations quickly without all the hassle that historically comes with large software implementations.
- Virtual Reality Gets Real: Virtual Reality (VR) heavyweights such as PlayStation VR, Facebook-owned Rift, and HTC Vive are all expected to dominate headlines in 2016.
- Retail Embraces Location Awareness: New location-awareness solutions will allow retailers to engage with their customers whether they are in-store or online.
- Cashless Society Moves a Step Closer: Consumers are discovering the safety they can have using tokenization and biometric identification, as used by Apple Pay, Google, and many others.
- Cognitive Computing Will Increasingly Be Used To Extract Value From Big Data: In 2016, we will begin to unlock the real power and value of Big Data thanks to the rapid growth of cognitive computing.
- The IoT Gets Personal: The IoT will become more personalized, with everyday items that we buy for our home being fully connected to the Internet straight out of the box.
- Security and Privacy Awareness Will Take Center Stage: Both consumers and businesses will start to question exactly who they provide data access to so they can exercise vigilance and protect themselves.
- Drones Will Become Practical: Amazon, Google, and Walmart are experimenting with home delivery of their products via drones. In addition, agriculture providers, power line inspectors, and police departments are all investing heavily in drones.
- Online Influencers Will Become the New Celebrities: Digital natives are turning their back on the celebrity world, and are embracing true online influencers.
- The Personalized Experience: We now have our own personalized online channels that provide us with the news, music, film, and books that interest us ― everything else will never make it to our timelines.
As Burris highlights in his story, 2016 will be the wake up call for any business that wants to reach out and engage with their customers. Today’s users expect a fully personalized experience via technology, and will ultimately tune out generic marketing campaigns.
We are in the midst of a true digital transformation, and those companies who fail to adapt and/or anticipate these sweeping changes will lose relevance or even find it difficult to remain viable.
If you would like to learn more about how these trends can impact your business strategies in 2016, please contact the SC&H Group IT Advisory Services practice here.