It’s that time of the year again. Everyone is trying to predict what will happen over the next 12 months. From technology trends to customer taste, every business owner is looking for the edge that will make their business better and stronger in 2017.
Let’s start by having a look at the Top 7 Technology Trends that Forbes believes will take a front seat in the year to come.
- The Internet of Things (IoT)
- Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality
- Machine Learning
- Automation
- Humanized Big Data
- Physical-Digital Integrations
- Everything on Demand
For many, simply reading the terms out-loud is scary. But in reality all we are seeing is a clearer definition of the trends that have driven technology over the past 5 years.
The Internet of Things is here. Smart TV’s are common, Nest thermostats are regulating micro-climates everywhere and 2016 even saw the first online attack originating from hacked Internet of Things devices.
Pokemon Go proved that Augmented Reality was real and the Microsoft HoloLens has impressed every reviewer so far.
Machine Learning is an other interesting trend. Grossly defined as letting computers program themselves from large sets of empirical data, it has made self-driving cars possible. Aspiring tech innovators will surely find new solutions to old problems using Machine Learning.
Only time will tell which of these trends will truly define 2017 but one thing is for sure, small businesses will need to do more for their customers.
The typical customer will keep expecting more for less and ASAP. For this reason, it will be important to remove hurdles in the path of potential customers.
Here at Mobolo, we expect our website packages to generate a significant portion of our growth in 2017. While we don’t have the amount of customer data needed to take advantage of Machine Learning or Humanized Big Data, we will focus on Everything on Demand as well as Automation to show potential customers what to expect if they chose to do business with us.
Depending on how quickly Augmented Reality gains traction we may look into ways to help small business owners in Ottawa make use of the technology.
We also expect Physical-Digital Integrations and Everything on Demand to drive demand for ShipTrack, the simplest way to get electronic proof of delivery.
If you are a business owner and have recently made changes to better serve your customers please leave us a comment. We would love to find out where you have seen the most positive impact.