Johannesburg, 03 Aug 2017
Take a look around your business. In terms of digital technology, what is the most important asset you use? It is not your laptop, nor your phone. It's not even your server. No, it's the software. The application.
Without the right application, your smartphones and PCs are useless. You quite literally would have nothing to do on them. Software is also what helps differentiate your business and create the competitive advantage you need. If your systems are not responsive, you risk aggravating clients, slowing down processes and delaying projects.
Ever sat at a service desk and heard the words: "Sorry, our system is slow today"? That is most often the application misbehaving. Your annoyance at the situation says it all. The application matters.
Yet often companies stick to old software, because software is expensive. Once you tally up the licences and such, it takes time to fully depreciate the asset you bought. In that time, the software becomes outdated. Even if you patch it, the software falls behind the curve of digital innovation.
In a classic capital expenditure trap, you have to sweat an asset you paid hefty amounts for, while seeing your competition adopt the shiniest new kit. The only salvation is that one day they will be where you are and, hopefully, you will be leading for a short while.
But this is no longer how things work, says Bernard Ford, CEO of One Channel: "Technology has made possible new products and services that increase the efficiency and pleasure of our personal lives. Ordering a cab, booking a flight, buying a product, making a payment, listening to music, watching a film, or playing a game - any of these can now be done remotely."
Ford is a fervent supporter of the ideas driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution, or as it's called in shorthand, Industry 4.0. First defined at the World Economic Forum, Industry 4.0 is "characterised by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres".
There are many facets to this shift in society, but it's powered by a singular force: the trinity of data centres, virtual systems and broadband networks, also commonly called the cloud. Cloud is what makes it possible for Facebook to serve a billion users at once and for Google to cater Gmail services seamlessly around the globe.
It's starting to create supply-side miracles and huge amounts of abundance. It's encouraging new levels of customer engagement and new ways for thinking. It's even allowing you to have that application you want, but always at the leading edge of innovation and without the upfront costs.
Cloud applications cover all the business areas: ERP, CRM, security, disaster recovery, process automation... name it, the cloud can do it. But whereas in the past many of those applications would have cost a fortune, now you only pay for what you need - and you pay far, far less than what traditional business software demands.
Instead of coughing up hefty fees upfront, you can subscribe to an application platform. This could be catered to your business in a number of ways - even on your own site servers. What changes is how the software is provisioned and updated. New changes are continually pushed from the developers, all at no extra costs. Your staff access the application easily and often from devices of their choice. Good cloud software can be expected to work across PCs and smartphones, even through web browsers.
You're able to customise the software, add plugins and hone it to give your business the edge you're looking for. All while just paying for what you use. The continuous update loop means you always have the latest software available. This also opens up doors to new areas: blockchain security, IOT, artificial intelligence, predictive analytics and natural language interfaces - these are all technologies being bred and deployed in the cloud.
"It's no secret that technology has been advancing at a tremendous rate," says Ford. "This means that it's not only more powerful, intuitive and automated, but also more accessible, with companies offering software solutions that are now affordable for small to medium sized businesses - sometimes they're even free."
Switching your business to Industry 4.0 is not just about survival. It's what will make you excel in the 21st century. Stop throwing a lot of time and resources at systems that started aging the day you bought them. The new cloud application world offers the best of breed at a fraction of the cost and none of the commitment. Not that you'll ever let go: once you see what these applications do for your business, you won't look back.
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