5 Important Tech Trends For Businesses In 2016

5 Most Important Tech Trends for Businesses in 2016

Fortune favors the brave – and those who follow and adapt the latest tech trends gain an advantage over their competition.

But seriously, the little guy is slowly catching up with the big companies.

All the latest technologies and their adoption in recent years has simply leveled the field.

We’ve seen it time and time again that small businesses and startups, viewed by the corporate world as the underdogs, are setting an example that bigger companies now adopt.

Early adopters of new technology win the race

As we’ve seen throughout modern history,  the adoption of new technologies in business (or in any given industry) has increased productivity, that leads to more growth for companies.

For example, during the Industrial Revolution, it was adoption of the moving assembly line that made Henry Ford a “genius: during his day.

Or during the personal computer age, when the first Macintosh was introduced – Each era had breakthroughs that propelled businesses – it set the benchmark for others to follow.

Now how do we do this? One good way to improve on this is to be updated on what’s happening around the world, and study the methods that seems to be working for other businesses.

Well, the trends mentioned in this article are definitely important for business growth. Information that all entrepreneurs must know for the year.

Some interesting facts YOU should know:

  • An increase of 2% over last year, 2014 saw a massive 98% growth and adoption of computers in small and medium scale business users.
  • Out of the people interviewed for the report, 68% use a netbook, 68% use a smartphone and 41% own tablets – there is a definite growth in the adoption of mobile technology

With an emphasis on mobility and enterprise driven solutions, below are some hot  trends that will define the technology landscape in 2016.

1. Mobile Ready – Responsive Website

With users’ varying across different sizes in the device screen spectrum, it is now become somewhat a must to build a responsive website that gives a standard and consistent look for desktop and mobile devices.

With responsive website design, 31% of SMEs see sudden growth in customer awareness and 21% report an increase in sales.

2. The Mobile Generation

The unparalleled craze for smartphones all over the globe has given rise to SMEs targeting this specific segment successfully.

With an almost standardised medium of communication, tweaking sales and marketing strategies can be built up based on the type of device being used.

For instance the Australian SME segment had 71% utilize Apple iOS, and 24% on Android.

This will give clear indication of the type of marketing that needs to be devised for these major mobile OS.

3. Using the “Cloud”

With every SME going the lean way, cloud computing is now a must.

Companies like DropBox and Box has enabled remote data storage accessible to everyone.

Even the large companies have adopted this.  Using the pay-as-you-go subscription model is the most profitable cloud computing pricing model that SMEs can use.

4. Wearable Tech

Google and Samsung have made significant breakthroughs in this front.

For example, almost all app developers are thinking of ways on how best to incorporate the benefits of new technologies into their app.

One interesting field is location-based services.

As a development company you can incorporate features on real time location mapping into your app to collect relevant user data and buying profiles.

5. Online Visibility

Making sure  that your websites have proper online marketing strategies in place so that your customers find you before they find your competitors.

As per the latest census report, SMEs invest nearly $15800 on technology a year but only 19% of these have a well thought out online business strategy.

Improve your SEO strategy so that your website is first on top of the search engine results page, leading to better acquisition, conversion, retention and most important – sales!

Want to learn how the pros are achieving mobile ROI within 1 year? Download our enterprise mobility report below…

enterprise mobile strategy report

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Logan Merrick is the co-founder and Director of Buzinga, as well as one of Australia's most recognised entrepreneurs, keynote speakers, investors and mentors. His writing on startups, technology and mobile marketing has been featured in The Australian, Business Insider, Startup Smart, Smart Company, and more.