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4 tech trends to watch in 2019

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The winter holidays will be over before you know it and 2019 will be upon us. Tech trends move faster than ever before because innovation moves faster than it used to. Follow these tech trends in 2019 to make sure you don’t fall behind. Make it your resolution to work with the right IT service provider and keep your technology going strong year-round.

1. More Autonomy

In 2019 the robots will start to think for themselves a bit more. That’s not to say that we are getting anywhere close to some of the more scary science fiction movies with fully autonomous robots.

Some predict that cars put out in 2019 will have more autonomous features than ever before. Now, some new cars have features like assistance with parallel parking, but experts predict that at least 10% of cars hitting the road by 2021 will be fully autonomous. However, in May of 2018, GM announced that consumers would be able to buy the first fully autonomous car in 2019.

2. “Digital Twins”

A digital twin is not a new virtual pet toy for your kids to enjoy. It’s actually a useful tool that helps businesses monitor physical devices or even entire buildings. A digital twin can be a full 3D model of a device like a plane engine, or simply a monitoring system for your building or office.

Digital twins are a helpful way to meet safety requirements or monitor utility usage. Using a combination of sensors in physical objects & digital twins will help companies get more useful data than ever before, and this trend is expected to continue in 2019.

3. Blockchain Becomes More Than Bitcoin

Blockchain is the incredible technological idea that has enabled the widespread use of digital cryptocurrencies. It can be used to enable privacy and digital protections like never before. Other uses for blockchain are also being explored.

Expect this trend to continue in 2019. Some creative uses for blockchain include making the transfer of and collaboration on documents even more secure, verifying the authenticity of high-end luxury goods and some experts even believe it can be used to prevent voter fraud.

4. Video & Live Video Continue to Dominate

It’s not just enough to have social media channels anymore, it’s important to note that channels with video, and especially live video tend to have much more interaction. This is due in part to algorithms used that sometimes favor video posts..

According to one study, 90% of people use online videos to help with purchase decisions and even just mentioning the term video in an email newsletter subject line can increase opens by up to 19%. People spend 1/3 of their time on the internet watching videos.

This doesn’t mean you have to spend all your time and resources on pre-recorded videos According to information put out by video giant Vimeo, 80% of people would rather watch a live video than read a blog, and similarly, 82% of people would rather watch live video than look at a static social media post.

Expect this trend to continue to grow in 2019. Make sure to use live video features on your brand’s social networks like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and others.

Contact your Managed IT service provider to keep up with these and other tech trends in 2019!

Real-world examples of business intelligence

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Software and technology play an ever-increasing role in the business world. One of the most important technologies in today’s business environment is business intelligence software.

Here’s what you need to know about the basics of business intelligence and how some well-known companies have put it to work in their day-to-day operations.

What is business intelligence?

Today, businesses of all sizes have access to mountains of data that were never readily available in the past. Business intelligence (BI) is a way to make sense of what these data points mean and turn them into insights that businesses can use in real-world decision-making.

Using analysis software, BI systems take raw data sets and use them to inform everything from marketing strategies to planning for possible future setbacks.

Want a few examples?

Lowe’s leverages BI

Though the concept itself may seem a bit vague, there are many examples of large businesses putting BI to work to solve concrete problems. One of the earliest examples you’ll find of a large enterprise using BI is Lowe’s, America’s second-largest home improvement store chain.

In 2007, the company started building a new data center in Texas specifically to expand on its already significant business intelligence capabilities. Like many retail chains, Lowe’s uses BI to optimize its supply chain efficiency and reduce the rate of fraudulent returns in its stores.

Starbucks gets in on business intelligent

The Seattle-based coffee chain Starbucks is also a prominent user of BI technology. Through its popular Loyalty Card program, Starbucks is able to amass individualized purchase data on millions of customers. Using this information and business intelligence software, the large coffee company can then predict what purchases and offers an individual customer is likely to be interested in. The company informs customers of the offers it believes they will want to take advantage of via mobile devices.

This system lets Starbucks draw existing customers into its stores more frequently and increase its volume of sales. In this capacity, BI has a use similar to traditional CRM systems. In fact, many businesses choose to combine BI and CRM systems to get the most out of their data.

Amex is big on BI, too

One of the areas of business in which BI has been most effective is the finance industry. American Express has been a pioneer of business intelligence in this sector, using the technology to develop new payment service products and market offers to customers.

Rather impressively, the company’s experiments in the Australian market have rendered it capable of identifying up to 24% of all Australian users who will close their accounts within four months. Using that information, American Express can take effective steps to retain those customers who would otherwise be lost.

BI software also helps the credit card company detect fraud more accurately and thereby protect customers whose card information may have been compromised.

Amazon and business intelligence go hand-in-hand

Last but not least among the companies that use BI is the online retail giant Amazon.

Much like Starbucks, Amazon uses business intelligence technology to personalize product recommendations and market products, but it also uses its BI software tools for logistical business decisions. In fact, in-depth data analysis is what enables Amazon’s massive supply chain to run smoothly.

From optimizing shipping routes to allocating inventory among warehouses, data and BI tools influence practically every step of Amazon’s supply process.

The tip of the BI iceberg

Amazingly, these are just a few of the many uses to which modern business intelligence software can be put. From finance to retail and even in the public sector, BI technology is helping organizations glean useful insights from their data.

If your business has large amounts of customer data but isn’t using it to increase profitability, now is the time to invest in BI software solutions and the IT support needed to implement them effectively.