Technology companies have been and are at the forefront of devising unconventional and innovative ways of meeting the demands of today’s savvy customer.
Here are some thoughts on the latest technology industry trends and growth opportunities in today’s market environment.
Where is the growth?
For much of the last few decades, the tech story has focused on the consumer markets and that will continue. However, as enterprises around the world look to facilitate their own transformations through technology, the opportunities for tech companies have broadened considerably.
OPEX optimization and the race for competitive advantage have led businesses everywhere to adopt the new and the cutting edge. Technologies continue to evolve as their power and speed increase while the cost of delivering them goes down.
Robotics, virtual and augmented reality, 3D printing and Artificial intelligence are opening up totally novel avenues.
Cognitive technologies such as machine learning, natural language processing, computer vision and speech and pattern recognition present vast areas of application and will see exponential rates of adoption in the times to come.
Blockchain and the distributed ledger technology has significant implications not only for the financial services industry but for any company that manages large amounts of data
From long term licenses and contracts, enterprises are moving towards usage based consumption – entrenched technology players will have to transform their business models to keep up with this change
Cyber security products and services will find increased relevance and new markets.
How should tech companies evolve?
One of the more important trends from the perspective of manufacturers of technology is the flexible pricing or pay as you go model. This trend began with software as a service (SaaS) companies that allowed customers to move away from buying hardware and software and instead pay for computer processing and storage on a pay as you go basis.
Gartner estimates that by 2020, 80% of software vendors would have moved to this model.
While smaller technology manufacturers will find this shift to reduce their sales cycles, larger organizations will have much maneuvering to do.
Changes in regulations in geographies such as the US, will need the Indian technology ecosystem to transition from a service based ecosystem to a product based ecosystem.
Development of new products and tackling of new problems will lead to increased product investments and liquidity events – India is therefore likely to see a thriving venture capital ecosystem in the times to come.
The rise of Internet penetration in India and constant growth in Internet commerce will provide vast grounds of expansion to homegrown startups and significant value creation can be expected in the next few years.
Partnering to Build
The digital enablement of enterprises is a complex process and the tech solutions needed by companies don’t come neatly bundled out of the box. Rather, they are a combination of technologies and knowledge bases. The complexity involved in designing today’s technology platforms requires deep expertise in a wide array of areas. This is causing a historic wave of collaboration between industries and companies that operate within them.
An example of companies working together is the Partnership on Artificial Intelligence – which includes companies such as Amazon, Google and Facebook.
The partnership aims to create a platform to provide thought leadership in order to advance understanding of AI technologies.
Companies that are open and adept to this form of learning will be able to find a broader network of opportunities for their products and services.
Conclusion
The last few waves of technology driven change has been focused on the consumer markets – with big changes in commerce, payments, travel, sharing and networking. These spaces will continue to grow and create value.
Globally, there is a tectonic shift in how enterprises, large and small, organize their processes, internal and external. These processes are increasingly going to be tech driven. Significant opportunities shall be available to new innovators in the enterprise space.
Enterprises are increasingly deciding in favour of pay as you go models – and their technology vendors will have to restructure their businesses to adopt to this shift
Cognitive technologies will create new avenues of exponential growth.
Product investments will thrive in markets like India as the ecosystem transforms from a service based one to a product driven one.
The next wave of value creators will seize the opportunity to make a dent in the enterprise space by collaborating with one another to bring inter-industry expertise to their products and services.
About Author
Ash Narain is the founder of multiple enterprise financial technology companies – including Marquee Equity, BankerBay and ZoukTech. He presently serves as CEO of Marquee Equity which is the most efficient way for companies across the world to raise institutional capital. Marquee is used by investment banks and emerging companies to build direct relationships with investors within a short time period. More information on Marquee Equity – www.marquee-equity.com. Connect with Ash Narain on LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/ashnarain
As Customers, Entrepreneurs and Technologies Evolve
