2020 – Trends

As a leading software company that is involved in the startup world, it is important for us at Initech to cooperate with experts in various fields and provide our readers a valuable information. This article was written by Next Step.

Next Step, based in Silicon Valley with European operations in Oslo, applies best practices in commercialization and organizational change (honed by their team of 40 global consultants since 1997) to lead successful digitalization of mid-size to enterprise businesses. Their proven best practices have been instrumental in the business model transformation and market valuation growth of Adobe, AutoDesk, ShoreTel, Nevion, Avinor, Live Nation and many other global businesses.

2020 Vision – Digitalization  Ahead

Welcome to the global economy, characterized by rapid, disruptive change and accelerating adoption of new technologies. Are you and your organization positioned to remain competitive in the face of these fundamental transformations? And are you well-prepared with a strategy for tomorrow’s challenges? If not, you are not alone.

According to IDC “By 2018, three of the top 20 organizations in any industry will be completely displaced by a competitor they are unaware of today.”

How can you build and execute a plan to be relevant and drive your success today, tomorrow, and into the future?

The first step is by understanding the factors driving change and thereby seeing a path to tomorrow’s opportunities. Next Step’s best practices for global business transformation start through applying the following three Mega Trends and their supporting factors’ to our clients’ business and commercial approaches.

Mobile, Global Access Workplace

The instant ability to access e-mail, the Internet, social media, and collaborative applications in the cloud has transformed the workplace into a 24/7 hotbed of global productivity, available at any time from any device.

Everything as a Service / The Servitization Economy

Organizations can use the cloud and other technologies to transform their products into services, offering everything from software to jet engines on a “pay as you go” basis.

Individuals or organizations that purchase these “servitized” products, only pay for what they need when they need it.

The Connected World, or the Internet of Everything

We are connected in ways that were unimaginable just a few years ago.  Social media, mobile communications, and connected devices of various kinds give us instant access to information and communication. This connected world produces unprecedented volumes of data very quickly.  Today, very little of this data is analyzed, but this will change.

Ultimately, the data collected from all of these access points can be utilized as business intelligence.

New Opportunities from the Trends

Each of these trends present significant opportunities and challenges to both organizations and individuals, globally and across all industries. These include:

Changing Workplace:

Employees now span four generations, each with different communication styles, work habits, motivations, and expectations. Like you and your customers, your employees are responding to change as well as actively participating in the transformation. The demands of employees and customers often intersect with their adoption of new technologies.

Mobility:

Your employees, like your customers, expect to communicate and connect anytime, anywhere, on any device, whether they are Baby Boomers sending emails or millennials tweeting updates. Your organization should fully utilize all communication methods, including social media, to engage all your employees, customers and prospects.

Business Model Evolution

Cloud computing has enabled 24/7, on-demand access and connectivity, with capabilities that allow users to pay only for usage. This change enables businesses to adopt new delivery methods that combine products and services for lease rather than ownership. It also allows businesses to collect usage data and business intelligence.

Servicization Economy

Providing business solutions as a service enables your organization and your customers to leverage mutual value through the combination of products and services provided on a subscription basis. This new paradigm of service offering encompasses both a product and services delivered as a single business offering through a subscription model. Charges are related directly to usage and initially much lower than a purchase. This model benefits customers with a lower initial commitment, less risk, and scalability.The model benefits the provider by providing a more stable and potentially larger revenue stream.

Big Data

New technologies allow organizations to rapidly collect vast quantities of diverse data. Benefits of big data have been seen in fields as diverse as retail and healthcare.  However, traditional data structures and analysis methods are not able to handle the volume, variety, and velocity of the data collected.  Only a small amount of the data produced today is analyzed.  As new analysis methods come on line, we see huge possibilities for extracting valuable insights.

How does it affect you?

Some of the ways our clients are embracing these trends to stay relevant and successful today and into the future include:

Consumerization of Technology

Technology that once required huge investments in infrastructure, and was therefore limited in its reach has now become available to large segments of the global consumer population. One such example is the introduction of mobile phones in developing African countries. In this case, technology was deployed and adopted without the need for middlemn, training, or large capital expenditures.

More Information, Available from More Sources

Employees and customers alike have access to information from global sources. For example; education and training provided by colleges and universities around the world is now available online and free of charge from companies such as EDX and Coursera, or major universities such as MIT.

Increased Collaboration and Sharing

With tools such as SharePoint, Skype, SLACK virtual business teams collaborate daily. Families are able to connect via Skype, no matter where their members reside, and they may share experiences, breakthroughs and tasks  anytime from anywhere.

Blurring of Work/Life Boundaries

With the use of mobile tools and services, employees and customers are able to; shop and work remotely, participate on international global teams, use services at their convenience, and provide instant feedback–no matter the time of day or the location of the user.  Employees can receive career training after they put their children to bed, rather than having to travel long distances to daytime workshops. Thereby businesses can leverage innovation and collaboration from subject matter experts across time zones and continents.

Pull vs. Push Content

People are no longer passive consumers, whose only source of information about products and services is advertising “pushed” to them. Instead, simple online searches can provide almost everything one needs to know. It is far easier to comparison shop online for the best prices, features, and services than visit vendors in person. For example, consumers can access Yelp or Angie’s List to find vendor performance ratings. By pulling information from online sources, consumers have already done much to change the business landscape.

To maximize your current relevance and future success through 2020 Vision, contact Next Step today: info@nextstepgrowth.com on 1 650-361-1902 or 47 902 30 982.

For more information, visit Next Step at www.nextstepgrowth.com or call 1 650 361 1902 or (47) 902 30 982.