Three Technology Trends Your Company Can't Ignore

Technology is evolvingfast. For that reason, it's imperative that your company focus on the technological trends that are emerging and reshaping your organization and your industry. Why? Because the more anticipatory you can be in regard to technology, the more creatively you can use it to gain competitive advantage.

1. Just-in-Time Training

Thanks to cloud-based technology, just-in-time training will be revolutionized. People will use their laptops, cell phones, and tablet computers more and more as the tools to receive training precisely when they need it. Currently, people are often trained before they actually need the expertise. That takes them away from their jobs, costing the company a lot of money. With just-in-time training, companies can keep people in the field without the specific training. Then, when the person needs a certain skill to complete a job, he or she can receive the training for it in real time via cloud-based technology.

Suppose your company specializes in selling and repairing commercial HVAC units. There a number of different units your repair staff needs to know how to fix. But rather than taking your people out of work and putting them in a multi-day training course, you keep them in the field without the specific training. When they have to repair a unit they are not familiar with, they learn how to fix it in real time via their mobile device just as they are servicing the unit.

Taking this trend a step further, suppose the HVAC repairperson is onsite, servicing something he's never worked on before. He uses the just-in-time training module via his tablet computer. But he's still confused about a certain aspect of the repair. All he has to do is touch the help icon on his screen and it connects him to a master trainer live on the screen. But instead of just telling the master trainer what the problem is, the repairperson can put on a headband that has a camera on the front, much like the headbands with a light on the front that people use for camping or car repair. The high-resolution camera interfaces with the mobile device and the repairperson can show the master trainer exactly what the issue is. Likewise, the trainer can respond with specific solutions as if he were standing right there with the repairperson. This can result in dramatic savings and increased efficiency.

Cloud-based technology for just-in-time services goes way beyond repair. It could be used to train people on new software, train salespeople on product upgrades, instruct employees on new policies and procedures, etc. And it's different and better than a standard tutorial, because the training can be accessed via any device, anywhere, and at anytimeand it offers an option for live help. In reality, the applications for cloud-based, just-in-time services are limitless.

2. Processing Power on Demand

One thing we know about bandwidth is that it will continue to increase. Because of this, we'll soon be able to take advantage of another trendprocessing power on demand-or virtualized processing power.

We have already virtualized so many things such as data storage, and many companies choose this option for data safety and ease of backup, as well as for the ability to access the data via any device. We have also virtualized our desktops so that we can see our desktop on anyone else's machine, just the way we're accustomed to seeing  it. It only  makes sense, then, that processing power will be virtualized too. In other words, a mobile device only has a certain amount of processing power. But if you can tap into additional processing power via cloud-based technology, you can turn your mobile device into a super computer where you can do advanced simulations and crunch different data streams together to get real time analytics. Now your handheld device is as powerful and advanced as your desktop. Imagine the increase in productivity if each of your company's employees had the capability to do complex work that required advanced processing power while they were on the road, armed with nothing more than their mobile device. What would that shift do to your company's bottom line?

3. Creative Application of Technology

For the above trends to fully emerge, business leaders must consider what their people would do with the technology. It's no longer enough to just deploy technology; you also have to consider how your people can creatively apply the technology in order to gain competitive advantage. Therefore, you need to go to your internal customers (all the people using the technology in the enterprise) and ask what they want technologically. Give them what they ask for, but realize that they will under-ask because they don't know what's technically possible. So while you want to listen to what people in the organization are asking for and give it to them, realize that what they're not asking for is the bigger and better capabilities-the things they don't even know are possible.

The key is to go to the next level and give people the ability to do what they currently can't do, but would want to do, if they only knew they could. After all, people really didn't ask for an iPhone or a Blackberry. The hidden need was the ability to access their email and internet without being tied to their desktop or laptop.

This is about putting existing technologies together and using them in a creative way. For example, there are thousands of features in Microsoft Word yet most people use only seven to 10. And your competitors are using the same features, which means you're not realizing any competitive advantage. So you need to ask, What features would be great for our sales group [or HR, or accounting department, or logistics people, etc.] to use-features that are so buried in the software that no one knows they exist? Most IT departments won't ask those questions because they're too busy ensuring everything is connected, working well, and safe. And if they're not asking, who is? Who in your organization is looking at the tools you have and asking if they are being underused? Chances are the answer is no one. As such, it's safe to say that all your tools are underutilized.

Therefore, you need to implement a communication vehicle that engages the different groups you serve in the enterprise-such as sales, logistics, purchasing, accounting, HR, etc.-and you need to engage them in helping them understand the power of the tools they have access to. One suggestion is to automatically show them a feature of the day and how it can make their life easier. This is about giving them information in short, fun, engaging ways rather than a hundred-page document detailing all the features (which no one will read anyway). Some software programs have such features where you get a tip per day. Perhaps you can customize that idea and apply it internally so that the different groups get information tailored specifically to them and their needs.

Create Your Company's Future

Many business leaders will say they are too busy to address these trends. But if you don't address them, who will? Ultimately, whoever drives these trends within an organization will be perceived as a significant contributor to the enterprise-someone worth keepingand someone with high value in the marketplace. When that someone is you, you can drive results to the bottom line and be a key contributor to the organization's success.

Daniel Burrus is a technology forecasters and business strategist, and he is the founder and CEO of Burrus Research, a research and consulting firm that monitors global advancements in technology driven trends to help clients better understand how technological, social and business forces are converging to create enormous, untapped opportunities. He is the author of six books, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal best seller Flash Foresight: How To See the Invisible and Do the Impossible as well as the highly acclaimed Technotrends. For more information, visit www.burrus.com.