5 reasons why technology is your enabler for development and 1 condition to utilize it

Any organism, in order to meet the challenges it faces, needs information. It needs sensors to gather data and a system to analyze it and continuously make the right decisions. It needs operational capabilities to execute efficiently on decisions taken. And finally, it requires coordination and thus a control mechanism to observe and adjust priorities, monitor progress and orchestrate actions.

These requirements are nothing new. What is new or more demanding is the set of five factors characterizing our era. It is this set that defines technology as a major enabler for country and corporate development. It is no wonder that Gartner foresees a 2.4% worldwide increase in IT spending for 2015.

We live in a fast paced world. We do business in a complex environment. Global. Mobile. Fluid. How can we cope? Now more than ever, only the fittest will survive and grow.

1. Size – it matters

Big data is one hard reality. The sheer amount of information we need to gather and process has increased dramatically and is still growing exponentially. Surely, many of us could or still work with less, but can we really afford this? Can we reach the right decisions?

2. Speed – Time and Timing are paramount

Now more than ever, what we do matters, but when we do it is equally important. The pace of business grows and global contenders force a relentless requirement to act fast. Raw data, analysis results and insight conclusions should be available fast and around the clock.

3. Complexity – The butterfly effect

Operating global, in an ever-more complex and integrated world, correlations start becoming significant, even for data and processes that seem unrelated. Decisions and actions in one area impact others in manners we cannot overlook. Thus our analysis and simulations should cover all bases.

4. Mobility – Human-to-Human enabler

Since the beginning of time, business is really done between people. The technology is finally here to allow for more human-to-human interaction with all the tools for business present in our phone or tablet. No matter if you implement sales processes, data analysis, inventory or audit, both the hardware and the software are there to do this whenever and wherever you like.

5. Flexibility – Adjust or perish

In times of crisis and increased competition, business plans shift regularly, business units grow but can also shrink, new best practices are implemented and required innovation must be supported. Advances in cloud infrastructure and cloud enabled, flexible enterprise applications enable you to invest according to your needs.

If one could dismiss these factors as a part of reality, their collective impact in how we operate does not allow this anymore. Fortunately technology provides the answers. It has matured in most areas in terms of infrastructure, devices and software systems. Considering the latter, the same Gartner report foresees the spending for enterprise software to increase by 5.5% in 2015, well above the average IT increase of 2.4%. Be it on an integrated or best of breed approach, you can now find powerful solutions to cover the whole spectrum of your operations.

There is one prerequisite however in exploiting the advantages of technology;

Your human capital

Your teams should be up to the task of selecting and utilizing innovative technology, with an open mind for change and a strong drive to adjust. And your vendors’ teams should not only be able to deploy and support this technology but rather be capable of being your partners in continuously evolving your solutions to meet the new business challenges arising continuously.

Initially published at the Stanton Chase Executive Newswire 15.