We’re only 18 years into the 21st century and the changes have been astonishing. Look around and you’ll see robots instantly responding to customer feedback, supply chains bristling at the touch of a button, and artificial intelligence anticipating orders before they’ve even been placed. The world is moving so quickly right now, that every minute of every day.
Online Shopping, car sharing, music streaming, mobile payments, emails, internet data. This is all being driven at an ever-increasing pace by digital technology that is transforming the way we live and work. And it’s time that every business recognizes the radical shift happening before them.
Consider the new industries experiencing explosive growth…
Smartphones as we know them have only existed for a little more than 10 years. Today 77% of Americans own one, driving a global market worth $478 billion in annual sales, and decimating the landline phone business. This is one of many massive markets being built on digital foundations.
As tech is adopted at rates unrivalled in history..
It took 30 years for electricity to be adopted by 10% of US consumers. It took 25 years for the telephone to achieve the same penetration. Tablets achieved this reach in just five years – and they’re not even our primary devices.
This rapid pace of change is seeing dominant companies cut down…
In 1965, the average tenure of companies on the S&P 500 was 33 years. By 1990, it was 20 years. By 2026, it’s expected to shrink to 14 years. At this rate, half of the S&P 500 will be replaced over the next 10 years – some by businesses that don’t yet exist.
As the workforce faces a radically different future..
Of the jobs that will exist in 2030, 85% haven’t even been invented yet. The pace of change will be so rapid that people will learn “in the moment” using new technologies. The ability to gain new knowledge will be more valuable than the knowledge itself.
The ecosystem of acceleration
The industry leaders of tomorrow are already using technology to gain and maintain a competitive advantage over their peers. They’re rethinking business processes to become more agile, innovative, and user-oriented.
They’re reinventing the way they work – with technology playing a central role right across their businesses.
Where they once approached innovation with a “waterfall” approach – following a rigid series of steps – today they’re embracing “agile” methods. Agile development is about working quickly to make small iterations and getting constant feedback along the way.
This is an important shift, given the fast moving and closely connected framework of a digital business. Here’s what that framework looks like, and how other ambitious businesses can embrace it to transform the way they work.
Applications.
These applications increasingly run on cloud technology.
Digital transformation: This is the most impactful and profound change many organizations make, because it transforms the business itself. Digital transformation is building entirely new and radically smarter products and services.
Cloud
These applications increasingly run on cloud technology.
IT transformation: Applications and the data they generate are the core of every digital business, so optimizing their operation is crucial. IT transformation involves adopting new architectures and operating models to support your core products.
Infrastructure
Clouds run on IT infrastructure.
Applications and the data they generate are the core of every digital business, so optimizing their operation is crucial. IT transformation involves adopting new architectures and operating models to support your core products.
Users
Users access data and applications around-the-clock.
Workforce transformation:
Mobility has radically changed where we work and what devices we use. Workforce transformation is about arming your team with the tools they need for every style of work, in an effort to boost productivity, reduce management overhead, and improve engagement.
Security.
This entire environment must be secured.
Security transformation: As end users and employees interact with technology every second of every day, we need to think beyond merely stopping data breaches. Security transformation extends this to develop plans that mitigate the risk these breaches may pose.
This framework is allowing industry leaders to keep up with the accelerating pace of business. Now is the time to either join them in embracing digital transformation, or be overtaken by those that do.
Source: businessinsider
