The generation of millennial workers views the world through a digital lens. They grow up with technology woven into their lives, and expect any information they need to be at their fingertips. As the move up the corporate ladder, they expect the business to capitalize on the data and technology assets that are available. They don’t have patience with disconnected and inefficient processes that put the business at a competitive disadvantage.
This is one of the key factors that is driving business application technology: cloud-based ERP, mobility and cross platform programs, integration of business apps with productivity tools and social media, with a consistent, user friendly interface. No matter the size of your company, you can now provide the digital business environment to:
• Give workers who are comfortable working from home, in the office, and on the road easy access to secure business systems. Any time anywhere access.
• Work cross platform on any device.
• Enable collaboration inside and outside your organization to build stronger relationships between vendors, customers, and employees.
• Provide project portals, inventory data, and customer information that empower remote employees to provide excellent service.
• Deliver powerful real time analytics with rich visuals
Recently Gartner highlighted 10 technology trends:
•The Device Mesh: This trend refers to what types of methods, or endpoints, people will use to access information or interact with others. According to Gartner, this includes mobile devices, wearables, home electronic devices, etc. Gartner claims that, “While devices are increasingly connected to back-end systems through various networks, they have often operated in isolation from one another. As the device mesh evolves, we expect connection models to expand and greater cooperative interaction between devices to emerge.”
Wearable technology devices are increasingly available. Enterprise Apps Today recently reported enterprise software is available on smartwatches. Business professionals can access ERP services using a wearable device, and companies are exploring how convenient ERP utilization will change their practices.
Manufacturing plants install sensors and other connected devices to monitor processes and ensure product quality. Production lines are more intelligent than ever before, which means they need vast amounts of data to operate.
•Ambient User Experience: The dawn of virtual reality is upon us, and the ambient user experience trend means that “user experience preserves continuity across boundaries of device mesh, time and space.” This means that the user can experience a blend of environments including physical, virtual and electronic that incorporates an array of different devices.
• 3D Design and Printing Materials: 3D printing is increasingly common in a wide range of industries using a wide range of materials. You can purchase 3D-printed objects on websites like Amazon! Gartner predicts that the use of 3D printing will continue to expand over the next 20 years, with an increase in the types of materials that will be printed .
3D printing is also a way of creating 3D design models for better visualization of a new product. 3D graphic tools are also providing similar advantages whether via BIM construction models (such as our AEC solution), 3D planograms, walk through real estate visuals, etc ., or with tools like Holo lens with Surface hub to support collaborative 3D design visualisation.
The process of 3-D printing – also known as layered manufacturing – creates exact replicas of items based on data loaded into the equipment. Companies can scan objects and produce precise physical copies or create their own designs.
Layered manufacturing is not as fast as traditional assembly lines, and it costs a bit more. Industry experts, however, predict more industries will adopt 3-D printing technology as the science improves. In August 2015, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first 3-D-printed pharmaceutical product. The product’s designer said layered manufacturing helped create a better performing pill. Many medical fields use 3-D printing to create items for optimal functionality and to improve outcomes with individual patients
• Information of Everything: As new devices are developed and are able to communicate with each other, more and more information is used and transmitted. “This information goes beyond textual, audio and video information to include sensory and contextual information.” Gartner predicts that information will also be able to be more easily analyzed.
• Advanced Machine Learning: “In advanced machine learning, deep neural nets (DNNs) move beyond classic computing and information management to create systems that can autonomously learn to perceive the world, on their own.” These DNNs will automate the new and complex information that comes in from different data sources. They enable machines to seemingly learn and act on their own.
• Autonomous Agents and Things: Will robots become widely used? Autonomous machines like robots, self-driving cars and other smart machines will become more common. Consider virtual personal assistants (VPAs) like Microsoft’s Cortana and Apple’s Siri. “The emerging notion of assistance feeds into the ambient user experience in which an autonomous agent becomes the main user interface. Instead of interacting with menus, forms and buttons on a smartphone, the user speaks to an app, which is really an intelligent agent.”
• Internet of Things Platforms: According to Gartner, “The technologies and standards in the IoT platform form a base set of capabilities for communicating, controlling, managing and securing endpoints in the IoT.” The platform will make sure that data is transferred effectively from endpoints.
One of the recent trends fueling cloud adoption is a hybrid implementation strategy. Companies don’t want to throw out old systems and start over with a cloud-deployed service. Some companies use hybrid cloud solutions to test a change in process. They move select datasets to the cloud to see if the service offers the flexibility and convenience they predicted. Hybrid cloud options allow companies to explore functionality without making huge investments. As cloud-deployed ERP solutions prove easier to adopt, more businesses should become interested.
