Why technology is a necessity for business

Twenty years ago, the role of technology was really in its infancy that could be categorized by solutions that were off-the-shelf, custom built, and were not enterprise-wide solutions that supported mission goals. These solutions were built on mainframes, the computers were not networked, there was no built-in collaboration software, the computer hardware was expensive, and the Internet was just beginning. Technological solutions have become more sophisticated over time and are now highly relevant to solving the most complex business problems. The advancement of technology has enabled the development of mobile computing, social media, cloud computing, and big data, to name a few technologies that are changing the business landscape. The role of technology is now becoming even more important for companies to remain competitive against other companies in the industry. Companies spend millions of dollars on technology solutions to create capabilities that differentiate their organization from their competitors. We will discuss the top 3 reasons why technology is becoming a business necessity.

1. The need to manage large volumes of data. Companies rely on data to support their daily operations and make key management decisions. As organizations’ market presence grows, so does their customer data. Twitter and Facebook are companies that have vast amounts of data to support their customer base of 500 million to 1 billion customers, respectively. The advancement of technology is allowing these organizations to become more efficient and increase their capabilities to better support the requirements of their customers. The ability to manage big data and capitalize on data to generate revenue is a huge driver for companies to use technology solutions.

2. The need to protect business data. Most companies manage their data through networked computers and are online to support the exchange of information with their suppliers to manufacture a product or provide a service. The need to secure corporate infrastructure, networks, customer information and data exchanges is becoming more vital due to the sophisticated practices hackers have adopted to penetrate secure networks. Every time a large organization has been hacked, it becomes front page news leading to financial loss for the organization.

3. The need to go mobile. The economy is causing corporations to do more work with fewer resources. The need for the workforce to be able to communicate from anywhere at any time is becoming a necessity for corporations to stay competitive in their industry. Companies are lowering their overall costs by allowing their workforce to work remotely to save on facility costs. The technology enables organizations to achieve their mobile vision by implementing software to help manage their mobile devices, secure mobile access to corporate data, and provide software to enable employees to collaborate. The mobile platform is evolving and technology leaders are innovating the ways people get work done.