What tech trends have dominated the first quarter of 2018?
This year is already shaping up to be an exciting year of technology trends in business – here are a few trends to keep watching.
Whether you’re a small business owner or the CIO of a huge organization, understanding the technology trends in business can help you understand your market, prepare your business with better tools, help your company run more effectively or competitively, or understand where your processes and resources could use improvement. Here are some of the tech trends that have been making a buzz in the beginning of 2018, as well as how they might affect your business.
BYOD and MDM
Technology is always littered with acronyms, and business development tech is no exception. BYOD stands for “Bring Your Own Devices” and as the gig economy continues to grow and more employees are taking positions as freelancers and contractors, many of them are opting to use their own cell phones, laptops, and tablets for work, rather than having a company provide them with the technology to do their jobs. This can help businesses save money in some areas – they don’t have to buy and maintain equipment for employees – but it brings a whole host of security issues. To help manage these issues, employers are investing in MDM, or mobile device management systems that help them to ensure that any data accessed through a BYOD piece of technology is safe and that all employees can have consistent access to programs and software they need from the company, even on non-company provided devices.
Blockchain
Blockchain is one of those technology trends that seems to be popping up in news for just about every industry, and it seems to be poised as one of the latest technologies that will be a game-changer for businesses. As a digital or electronic record that is both transparent, secure, and still accessible, it’s no wonder why businesses are interested in this tech trend. Keeping accurate records is a crucial element to just about every successful business and even more so in certain industries like shipping and logistics and supply chain, so it makes sense why this is one of the latest trends both businesses and the media have been keeping an eye on.
AI and Voice Assistants
Not only are companies who are firmly in the digital or technological development sphere creating AI software to interact with consumers in the form of voice assistants, but many other businesses have also seen the value of this kind of AI development. Not only are Google, Amazon, and Apple leading the way by selling voice assistant devices, other businesses like car manufacturers and smart device companies are adding more AI and voice integration into their products.
These are just some of the IT trends that have dominated the news, and the curiosity of businesses, for the first quarter of 2018. With adaptation and advancement moving as quickly as they do, technology trends in business may look a lot different by the years’ end. Has your business introduced any of the latest technology trends, either these or something else innovative that’s helped your business do better or more creative work or offer a better customer experience? Do you think these technology trends are valuable or are they just another fad that won’t affect the core of how most businesses operate?
