New technologies seem to reach not only our computers and worlds but our fingertips on what seems to be a daily basis. How does one sieve through the inundation of new technologies to determine what it is the right way to incorporate them in a successful manner? Our advice is to ask yourself which problem you are trying to solve, before you jump into trying to solve it by adopting new technologies. Beware of dealing with the problem’s symptoms instead of the actual problem.
Moreover, with each new technology, new challenges can arise. Will you need to update your current operating systems? How much training is required? Will it actually improve your business or bring in new business? Often companies jump on a technology trend and spend time and money to be part of the hoopla around the new development, only to discover down the road that the use of time and other resources have no actual payoff. But if you were to do a cost and benefit analysis prior to jumping in, you could save your company a big headache…and some money.
Let’s take a look at the real-world case of Cloud4All, Inc., a fantasy name to respect the privacy of the people involved. After Cloud4All went through a major business reorganization in
early 2011, it changed its management solutions to rely on cloud technologies, which enabled it to cut costs, accelerate growth, and respond to customer needs influenced by emerging tech trends, such as big data, mobile technology, and social media. The company’s leadership believed that this could bring tremendous potential economic impact as new cloud-based businesses, jobs, and services emerge. They saw an opening in the market that could increase their presence in their field as well as increase their profits.
However, since cloud was a relatively new technology for the company, Cloud4All had to carefully prepare to monitor the product portfolio’s launch and objectively assess its success. Great questions to start with were: Is there a return on investment? Are customers satisfied with the change? If not, is it just a learning curve that takes time to adjust to or a major customer satisfaction issue? Is the new reorganization sustainable as a long-term goal? These were all questions that helped objectively compare aspirations to assumptions and results, prior to calling the move to the cloud a success or failure. With that, Cloud4All succeeded and accelerated growth as initially envisioned.
For more information about determining if a new technology advancement is a fad or has staying power, visit embedded-knowledge.com.
