Businesses have been forced to be more flexible and agile than ever over the last decade, even more so over the last year or two. Technology has been a significant factor, but changing employee demands and customer expectations have also put new strains on Irish companies. Now, we’re moving into yet another new state-of-play, in which you’ll want to be ahead of the trends in new tech, new target consumer requirements, and worker productivity.
Continuing to benefit from remote work
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Ireland was forced into a mass experiment of remote work, with the results not only proving that it’s possible, but that it’s a viable practice that can help cut costs for businesses. The technology has been in place for years to enable many workers to perform their day-to-day duties away from the office without it harming the company, but most have been too afraid to try.
Studies have shown that, in normal circumstances, remote workers are happier and more productive, as you would expect from someone allowed to work in comfort and cut out commutes. The Forbes stats analysis details that teleworkers are 35 to 45 per cent more productive than those in an office, with organisations achieving 21 per cent higher profitability per year from part-time telecommuters. Companies like Square and Twitter have already announced that they may move to permanently utilising remote work.
Meeting the expectations of Millennials
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Millennials make up a large portion of the target consumer market right now, but for years, companies have struggled to reach the elusive age group. The central aspect to keep in mind is that Millennials value the experience exceptionally highly, with them being strongly affected by bad interactions with a business. While a weak product doesn’t always mean a lack of repeat business or a bad review, especially if it’s cheap, a bad experience with a business resonates a great deal more.
Alongside this, convenience has also become key to the market, which is why value-added customer service has become so important. It’s nothing new, but the Spin online casino research into small business trends found that 53 per cent of customers purchase from retailers who make browsing-based suggestions. Incorporating smart personalisation engines into your marketing techniques allow your business to connect to prime customers in a way that they appreciate as the blasts are relevant to them and make the experience even more convenient.
The next step in computing
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Cloud computing has had a tremendous impact on businesses, but the next step will bring cloud computing on remote servers closer to home. Edge computing is tipped to be the next big trend in company-enhancing technology that’s adopted across the board. The tech itself is computing that’s done at the source of data, per The Verge, rather than the workload being performed by distant servers.
As a result, edge computing could become an integral tool for the processing and analysis of a business’s data. Being on-site, or close enough, edge computing offers users results instantaneously, making a company’s reactions much faster. Its usage can also help those with larger security systems lower bandwidth usage and improve the efficiency of data analysis.
Keep an eye out for these business trends in the coming years, and see if your company can adapt to incorporate them into its practices.