Technology is rapidly changing. With recent technological breakthroughs, we are seeing a seismic shift that promises exciting things for businesses. However, if you are not paying attention to the latest trends in the world of tech, then you might well miss the boat. If your competitors are quick to adapt to the newest developments, and you are not, then it will be they who will benefit from their foresight.

One of the biggest challenges in technology is knowing which way to go. With so many exciting and necessary areas of development, understanding where to place your investments will take some consideration.

Whether you are deciding on the needs that you will have for your next custom built workstation, or you are looking to overhaul your whole data infrastructure, it is vital that you look to the future and how your business will work with technology in the years to come.

Two of the biggest areas that companies are currently spending their tech budgets in are artificial intelligence, and security.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI)  offers so much to so many businesses. It is already very commonplace in customer service software, machine learning, medical research, search engines, and on the internet of things. As 5G grows in prominence, so too will AI.

If you deal with customer queries, AI will be able to provide your customers with immediate responses via your website or your social media channels. This will speed up the customer service process making for better informed and happier customers. This is a massive saving of your valuable money and resources which can be invested in developing other areas of your business.

Cyber Security

Keeping your business safe should be a very high priority. Cybercrime is continually on the rise and no business is safe. Whether you run an international conglomerate worth billions, or a small business that has two staff, you are a target for criminals.

Every day your business will be under attack. You may not know that you are, but hackers are working to find holes in your security that they can break in through. Using very sophisticated technology, they will attack numerous different websites and servers at any one time. Very often, they are after your customer’s valuable information.

If you keep any customer or client data on file, you need to be sure you are implementing a number of key cyber-security strategies to protect your business and your customer’s data.

Some examples of things that you need to put in place are:

  • Better control over access. This means reviewing all of the access and permission levels of all of your employees. Certain data should only be accessible by specific people. Ensure strong and unique passwords are used and that these are changed often.
  • Use a Managed Service Provider to carry out audits on all of your systems to help you to identify vulnerabilities and to help you to plan and implement all necessary procedural changes to manage your data better.