With these technologies, companies can digitally transform the way people interact with each other and their environment.
Digital transformation: a high-level overview for professionals
TechRepublic Senior Writer Teena Maddox summarizes why digital transformation is crucial for companies to stay relevant.
As the decade comes to an end and we recall the distant times of 2010, it becomes clear that the years 2010 were a decade of unimaginable digital transformation.
Google, Amazon, Uber, Facebook and Twitter are some of the most important technology companies that have fundamentally changed society. Pioneering innovations have renewed actions such as communicating with loved ones, ordering food or taking a taxi. At the basis of these transformative platforms are thousands of coders, scientists and researchers, who have spent years building new technologies designed to meet all human concerns or needs.
These are some of the technologies that have made digital transformation possible since 2010.
SEE: Digital transformation: a guide for CXO (ZDNet / TechRepublic special function) Download the free PDF version (TechRepublic)
Cloud computing
The introduction of widespread cloud computing has democratized data collection and increased the capacity of companies, leaving companies of all sizes with the need for costly IT infrastructures and cumbersome maintenance arrangements. According to a TechRepublic survey, almost 70% of companies use or consider cloud services.
By moving most services to the cloud, companies can stay agile and manage the scale better than ever before. The falling prices of cloud computing have led to the rapid growth of “as-a-service” systems that have given smaller companies access to tools that were previously far too expensive. Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google, Microsoft and Alibaba are the largest cloud titans fighting for market supremacy.
With Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS) becoming more popular, cloud computing will be one of the defining elements of the next decade. A recent report from Forrester said the public cloud market will reach $ 411 billion by 2022. The report added that the four leading cloud suppliers will generate 75% of the total $ 75.4 billion worldwide public cloud infrastructure market.
SEE: More from our Decade in Review series (TechRepublic on Flipboard)
Automation and artificial intelligence
Forrester recently said that companies around the world are increasingly switching to automation for a variety of tasks that were previously performed by people. This changes the workforce at a fundamental level, giving rise to fears in the next decade of massive job losses.
But the field also makes companies better in various concrete ways. Dangerous, time-consuming jobs in factories are increasingly being carried out by an army of robots that keep people away from positions that have traditionally been harmful to their health.
This has even begun in other areas, such as customer service, where many companies now use automated systems to respond to basic questions and consumer complaints.
Part of what drives the increase in automation is the advance of artificial intelligence (AI), which equips robots and machines with a wider range of possibilities. Companies use AI for everything from security to human resources, allowing computers to perform tasks that have become expensive or unnecessary.
Although the fear of automation and AI is very real, recent studies have shown that people really like the introduction of automation and are generally happy that computers or robots can handle manual tasks.
SEE: Digital Transformation ebook: guide to becoming a digital transformation champion (TechRepublic Premium)
Smartphones and mobile apps
In the past decade there has been an explosion of access to smartphones, bringing entire continents of people to the Internet for the first time. The popularity of smartphones has led to the creation of a complete ecosystem of mobile apps and tools that people now see as integral parts of their lives.
Uber and Lyft have become verbs, while food delivery apps such as Seamless and GrubHub are extremely popular. People use apps to regulate and manage every aspect of their lives, using calendar platforms, training assistants, and voice memo programs.
Even the way we communicate with each other has changed due to our increased use of smartphones. Apps such as Signal, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are the primary communication mode for billions of people, who send secure text messages, photos and voice messages around the world in seconds.
Google Maps and other transit apps have made it almost impossible to get lost, with some apps even so far that they let New Yorkers know at which end of the subway they should sit for the easiest exit. People can send money to each other, buy movie tickets and watch their favorite shows – all from a device the size of their hand.
So many apps are emerging that their development has become a continuous joke for millenials, who, regardless of the industry, can call it a potential source of employment. Expect more from our daily problems to find app-based solutions.
4G and 5G
4G has become so widespread that people take it for granted that wireless internet access is relatively new.
Mobile operators started rolling out 4G broadly around 2012 and offered more people download and upload speeds that were many times faster than 3G. 4G was a game changer because it was faster and more reliable than anything that 3G had to offer, which was somewhat a substitute for slow fixed line broadband; it was also considerably cheaper than 3G.
Coverage increased steadily as the decade passed and with the introduction of 5G this year, mobile operators are preparing for even more evolution when a broader rollout starts next year. To give people an idea of the extent of the shift between the two, an analyst compared 4G and 5G to the telegraph industry that implemented a phased transition to fax at the end of the 19th century.
The beginnings of 4G coincided with the wide acceptance of smartphones and other devices, so that more and more people became mobile in more institutions.
SEE: Mini glossary: 5G terms you need to know (free PDF) (TechRepublic)
internet of things
The miniaturization of sensors has changed the supply chains around the world, allowing for a greater collection of information and more organized systems.
Industries such as manufacturing and retail have trucks, storage facilities and factories with IoT (Internet of Things) devices and other smart tools that can collect information about how they are used and provide insight into how things can be optimized or streamlined.
The industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has even become its own area of expertise, allowing companies to collect data about their machines and tools before they use machine learning or artificial intelligence to analyze them and make recommendations.
These systems can in some cases make the workplace even safer for employees, while emphasizing places where costs could potentially be reduced. Companies can study weak spots and see how they can limit service disruptions or solve problems before they emerge.
As more of the workplace is equipped with this type of technology and the tools to improve data, companies expect to find even more opportunities to optimize their services.
SEE: Digital transformation in production: a guide for business professionals (TechRepublic Premium)
Data analysis
The value of our data becomes clearer as more countries begin to adopt laws that govern how companies collect and share it. But the ability to analyze the many data websites and services that collect about us has helped companies transform and adapt to changes in their industry.
Morgan Stanley called the 2010 years “the data decade.” The improvements in artificial intelligence and machine learning have given companies a way to search and sort data, providing the most useful insights that can help companies change their customers.
Gartner distinguished analyst in Data Analytics & Strategy Douglas Laney said earlier this year that by 2022, 90% of companies will have detailed business plans that “explicitly mention information as a critical asset and analysis as an essential competence.”
It is easier for companies to make good long-term decisions when leaders use accurate data that has been analyzed and sorted. Some companies are now also looking for data for short-term insights and opting for platforms that can provide real-time information based on an ever-increasing set of data.
SEE: The coolest company in America: How Big Ass Fans went from cooling cows to a multinational tech powerhouse (cover story PDF) (TechRepublic)
Social media
Although Facebook already existed in 2010, the social media industry looks completely different than back then, and since then some of the largest sites have emerged.
Instagram, Snapchat and Pinterest all came about after 2010 and both Facebook and Twitter have changed dramatically since they debuted for the first time. The number is now huge, with billions of enthusiastic users on multiple social media sites around the world sharing their thoughts, photos, and more.
SEE: Facebook privacy scandal: a cheat sheet (TechRepublic)
It would be unthinkable to go back in time and explain to people that it is now necessary for almost all companies and world leaders to have official Twitter and Facebook accounts. Social media have become one of the most important ways for companies and leaders to communicate with and hear from people, but it has led to an unprecedented amount of insight into the whims and moods of the world’s most powerful.
Although there has been some leeway against social media sites since 2016, user numbers are not showing signs of decline, and the increasing popularity of smartphones will bring billions more online in the next decade.
Blockchain
Blockchain has invaded almost every industry because of its broad applicability to almost every company that needs a more organized supply chain or needs to increase verification.
After its debut in 2008 as part of the cryptocurrency efforts, the distributed ledger technology was quickly split off in its own field and heavily taken over by the financial sector. Banks and financial institutions have been using it for everything for more than five years, from smart contracts to the simplification of loan applications. A consortium of banks in Canada has even used the technology to give people more power over the data collected by financial institutions.
Over the past two to three years, dozens of industries have started investigating the effectiveness of blockchain, and it has had the greatest impact on supply chains.
Huge retailers such as Walmart and fast food companies such as McDonalds now use blockchain to buy materials and food.
Brazil recently hired IBM to create a blockchain system that would manage the country’s birth and death record system, which had been full of abuse for decades.
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