Technology’s expansion and growth show no signs of slowing down any time soon. Technology has always been the lead disruptor of industries. Even today, modern technology reshapes how industries and various companies within those industries operate and perform. What’s interesting is that new technology gets adopted quickly, which forces various businesses to adapt quickly or risk falling behind.

As mentioned before, new technology adaptation is disruptive by nature. That means that it oftentimes changes how companies operate – sometimes slightly and sometimes entirely. In other words, technology always has an impact on businesses. Now, 2018 is almost behind us and people are wondering how new technologies will continue to impact industries. That being said, here are a few tech trends that will affect businesses in 2019.

Augmented and virtual reality

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) have made significant progress in development. Nowadays, they are already being adopted in the business world. The main reason this trend will continue on in the future is that there’s an increasing interest for these technologies from consumers. The idea of mixing digital and real-world experiences seems to be quite appealing not just to consumers, but to businesses as well.

AR and VR technologies are already present in consumer experiences, such as retail and real estate. However, these technologies have also found practical use in other sectors as well. For example, AR and VR, in particular, can be found in various industries, such as manufacturing, healthcare, and medicine, as well as in commerce businesses. Continued development of these technologies will encourage this tech trend to affect even more industries and companies alike.

Artificial intelligence (AI)

There’s been a lot of buzz surrounding artificial intelligence and its development. While some fear its negative implications and doomsday scenario possibilities, others are quite enthusiastic about its benefits. Needless to say, AI is still in its early stages of development and humanity is nowhere close to developing true AI. However, what’s done so far has already found its way into industries and companies.

Nowadays, AI is present in almost all spheres of business ranging from chatbot features to AI-powered legal transcription services used by law firms all the way to practical uses in industries, such as healthcare, manufacturing, education, and others. AI is arguably the fastest adopted technology because of its machine learning, deep learning and natural recognition capabilities that can be used by various businesses both large and small. Due to its seemingly limitless potential, AI trend will continue to affect business and drive innovation through industries for years to come.

Internet of things (IoT)

Today, there’s an increasing need for more devices and more connectivity in the world. This trend has already started to affect modern business and will continue to do so in the future. This demand created the need for more IoT devices. Nowadays, smart devices and gadgets are slowly becoming a standard not just for consumers but for businesses as well. Devices, such as Amazon’s Alexa, Echo, Google’s Assistant, and others are quite popular among consumers these days.

For businesses, IoT devices present a unique opportunity to collect relevant information about customers, in order to improve the overall experience, as well as improve business efficiency and cut costs along the way. This trend will most likely encourage more IoT devices to be produced and widely used. Both consumers and companies stand to gain from IoT implementation, which means this trend will most likely continue on.

Cybersecurity awareness

As the digital world continues to grow, so do the threats that lurk online. Today, risks of cyber attacks are greater than ever and cybercriminals target everyone they can get their hands on. This issue has led to increased awareness about cybersecurity and proper security measures for both businesses and individuals alike.

The cybersecurity trend will affect everyone in the future. The main reason is that businesses that operate online must adequately protect both themselves and their customers. Not only that, but consumers will be more careful when dealing with businesses and will most likely avoid companies without proper security.

Cloud integration

Cloud-computing has already affected numerous companies. However, this trend becomes more mandatory each year. Nowadays, more and more companies are opting for cloud-based solutions. It’s safe to say that cloud integrations will become a standard for modern organizations in the near future. Cloud presents businesses with unique opportunities to store files, leverage external resources, such as hardware and software, as well as scale opportunities based on current needs among other things.

Cloud solutions help improve business efficiency, performance, scalability, and effectiveness, while also helping them become more cost-efficient. Not only that, but the cloud provides more security and reliability to businesses than other solutions, which makes it highly sought after. Cloud-based tech trends will most likely continue to affect businesses, as their benefits are too good to ignore.

 

Technology continues to advance and industries continue to adapt to modern trends. Each time there’s a new technology on the market, businesses rush to integrate it into their operations to improve their efficiency before competitors catch up. As technology will surely continue to evolve, so will businesses continue to be affected by the latest tech innovations.