Growing a company demands that you keep up with the latest technology trends, and business leaders should always be looking for new technologies that will improve their results and streamline workflows. However, it can be difficult for small and medium-sized businesses to discern which of the thousands of tech trends will have a truly positive impact on their business. In this article, we examine which concepts and innovations are most likely to modernize and revolutionize your small business, according to industry insiders watching the trends.
While these concepts have been circulating for several years, they are trickling down to smaller businesses as time goes on.
- Embedded Business Intelligence: Business leaders need to be apprised of any potential market changes or customer challenges before they arrive. Embedded business intelligence utilizes the process of embedding analytics capabilities into existing business applications. This can be achieved via a SaaS product, cloud-based portal, or web application. EBI is set to offer the most appropriately qualified early indicators and predictions for SMBs to remain competitive.
- ‘Appified’ Visual Presentations: According to research from Forrester, 80% of B2B commerce is conducted both digitally and remotely – and this is expected to be the case from now on. Because of this, business development pros are rethinking virtual engagements. Traditional presentation decks and static sales materials will no longer be sufficient – evolution means utilizing new “appified” presentations and content to add visual finesse, customized insights, and storytelling to innovate the engagement experience.
- Intent Intelligence: This trend involves understanding customer intent before making contact with the consumer. This intelligence helps business development personnel focus their energy on prospects who intend to use their product or service. Emerging resources and tools assist sales teams with the intelligence they need.
- Cloud Team Management: Cloud team management will be a substantial game-changer for SMBs. After the pandemic, normalcy never returned. Instead, companies of all sizes were forced to adjust to the new reality – but cloud team management solutions are highly effective at bridging gaps and creating new efficiencies. Now more than ever, the importance of high-quality remote communication tools will be utilized not only to save money internally but to broaden your geographic client base.
- Blockchain: Blockchain technology may be the most prolific item on this list, but recent innovations in Oracle technology are making it easier to monitor and organize various types of data. In fact, experts feel that blockchain’s potential to improve and disrupt current processes is still largely untapped.
- Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: AI can be controversial and pose moral dilemmas, yet its capacity to help us achieve goals is undeniable. Companies that are slow to embrace AI’s possibilities may struggle to stay up to speed with the competition. Conversely, those SMBs that investigate ways to implement AI could be catapulted ahead. For its part, machine learning will help business development teams become hyper-focused by providing intensely intelligent data regarding prospects and clients. Data will continue to operate as corporate currency.
- Conversation Intelligence: Conversation intelligence is rapidly changing how we cultivate relationships and deliver value. The application analyzes sales call conversations and transforms them into real-time guidance. Conversation data teaches reps how to adapt interactions to meet client requirements and drive maximum revenue. Managers can use the insight to coach entire teams.
- Augmented Analytics: With AI and BI technology working in tandem, augmented analytics are poised to emerge. Augmented analytics will enhance workflow efficiency by automatically determining data types, automating recommendations, and improving conversational analytics. Driven by AI’s integration with BI, users with less technical backgrounds will be able to work with analytic literacy.
SMBs and Emerging Technologies
While most SMBs are interested in implementing new technologies to gain market share, it becomes problematic when human resources are limited. The time required to research, learn about, and implement new technologies is time that many SMBs do not have.
Managed services solutions for SMBs address this issue, offering immediate expertise and knowledge that could take you years to accumulate. The team at is here to help Sarasota area SMBs identify and implement emerging technologies best suited to their needs.
