The idea of setting out a digital strategy and choosing which technology to use can be a difficult one. There are a multitude of channels to consider, including desktop, social media, mobile, and web TVs—not to mention the different engagement models required for each. 

Next, you have to ask yourself— what’s most important to me in a technology platform? Reliability and security or ease of integration? Product offering or the potential for mobility? They’re not easy choices, and it’s increasingly difficult to find a platform that covers all of these. (Though we would obviously have a few ideas when it comes to helping you choose the best CRM.)

The companies delivering these technologies are innovating at an extremely fast pace – introducing new features and capabilities for you to use. For example, here is a taste of some of the underlying technological advancements that have enabled technology companies to introduce their own product and service innovations to the business software market:

• Mobile device improvements - There have been massive innovations in mobile hardware, the business apps built for them, and the enablement of the workforce with mobile devices. This have spawned a multitude of mobile-first technology companies.
• Coding language improvements - The advancement of HTML5 since its launch in September 2014 (or native development languages like Objective-C) in mobile development have led to continuous improvement in mobile device user experience design. This has meant significantly higher user engagement levels within a business setting.
• Platform updates - Think about how many mobile platform updates in OS/Android you receive on your device every year, including regular technology platform upgrades and the new feature introductions they offer like improved security, bug fixes, availability of artificial intelligence, and much much more. Upgrades like these are almost taken for granted now and the continuous innovation they provide.
• Connectivity speed - Since the introduction of the first generation of wireless telephone technology in the 1980s, we continue to pick up connectivity speed nearly every year. Think about the capabilities that 5G will bring to businesses in the future. For example, quicker download speeds will offer up an ever-higher consumption of media on mobile devices and facilitate the exchange of larger amounts of business data.
• Artificial intelligence (AI) - The concept of AI was first coined in 1956, but memory and processing speed limitations means that little was done to advance it in the decades that followed. As this has improved, this has allowed for the increase of automation at scale across a variety of industries. This pace of innovation will only continue – manifested most recently by the wide availability of artificial intelligence (AI) in business solutions.
• Expansion of Cloud Computing - We have talked a lot about the benefits of cloud computing to your business, but over the last decade companies have become more confident and comfortable moving their data to the cloud because of the increasing benefits of being connected in today’s business world.

Why you should partner with an innovative technology company

The best way to plan for continued change in the future is to partner with a technology company that will be best placed to harness and introduce these innovations as easy-to-use technology solutions. It’s difficult to predict with confidence how the next wave of innovation in technology will impact businesses and how they operate, but pairing up with an industry leader who is an influencer in the technology space is definitely a leg up.

Making that decision now can mean that as new capabilities are brought to market, your business is quicker to implement them to your competitive advantage.

Harnessing the output of innovative technologies

A challenge in trying to harness new innovations is considering how humans will adapt to them. Just the same way as technology changes, the way humans interacts with technology changes. Not as fast as the technology itself – but it still changes. How people will react and use the iteratively improving technologies of the future is also hard to predict. 

The technology companies of today are adept at creating intuitive user experiences and making the latest innovations accessible to the masses – consider the relative ease with which AI was introduced. However, you as a business will be better placed to address this by using technology that is built and designed by the brightest minds in technology.

Making that decision to partner with a technology you have trust in is a big strategic decision for your company. Partner with who you believe will be best able to navigate the future advancements in technology, and guide you how to bring them into your business.

The end-goal of adopting most technological innovations, should utlitmately influence the customer experience. In this Innovation and the Customer Experience e-book you will learn more about innovation as a discipline, being deliberate with innovation, breaking the rules and getting inspired.  If you are interested in creating a culture of innovation in your organisation, it is a must-read.