Top Four Digital Tech that Impact Business Strategy

Evidently, digital technologies will remain a major driver of business innovation for the future. Businesses that adopt the right trends—innovate around them and/or integrate them into their operations—are more likely to strengthen their competitive advantage and prosper. Those that don’t, won’t.
In a report by ISACA, it provides high-level actionable insights into the digital trends that are most likely to deliver business value today and tomorrow. Following are the top four technologies most likely to affect business strategy:
1. Big Data Analytics
Big Data Analytics is the leading value-producing digital innovation trend. With digital data sources growing in number and complexity, Big Data continues to get bigger. To make big data actionable takes analytics. They provide the necessary intelligence to simplify the complex, bringing new, business-influencing insights to bear. Simply defined, big data analytics is the application of advanced algorithms to analyze large data sets containing a variety of data types to uncover hidden patterns, unknown correlations, market trends, customer preferences and other valuable business information. With the vast amounts of data being generated and collected by enterprises worldwide on a daily basis, analytics will continue to drive business strategy and decision making across all enterprise functions and industries.

The application of advanced analytics to high volumes of data, often from a high variety of sources, performed at high velocity to uncover hidden patterns, unknown correlations and other useful information. Its main purpose is to enable organizations to make better decisions, such as those enabling more effective marketing.
However, enterprises must consider the following Do’s and Don’t’s when developing or driving the use of big data analytics across the enterprise.
2. Mobile Technologies Extend Business Capabilities
Business use of mobile technologies continues to evolve rapidly. Despite widespread use and adoption, many aspects of mobile technologies should be accounted for in organizational strategy because expanding mobile platforms have the capacity to deliver additional business value—and unanticipated or unsanctioned use of mobile technologies continues to carry business risk.
The use of portable devices connected to the Internet and other networks to extend business capability. The majority of these devices are owned by individuals rather than businesses. The application of these technologies to a business context can provide a new platform to deliver business applications, enable richer interaction with customers and allow for more streamlined business operations by extending the computing environment to previously unreachable areas.
Use of mobile technologies is highly likely to continue to create overall business value because:
The benefits realized are ‘very high’: Benefits have the ability to reduce costs, increase business agility and drive new or refined business strategies.
Risk is ‘very low’: New risk can be introduced through continued adoption, but benefits outweigh the risk for most firms that take proper risk management and network security measures.
Cost is ‘medium’: Investment can be significant; however, it can lead to increased costs.
However, enterprises must consider the following Do’s and Don’t’s when developing their enterprise mobile technology strategy.

Dos and Don’ts for Business Strategy

3. Cloud Computing Provides Convenient Access
Cloud computing continues as a leading business trend driving business strategy. A virtual model of information technology delivery, cloud provides ubiquitous, convenient and on-demand access to a wide variety of technology-based information and services, including applications, data storage and infrastructure. We believe it is one of the top value-producing digital technologies because, unlike traditionally sourced IT services, cloud-based systems are easy to deploy and require little resource involvement, virtually no capital investment or significant support structure to integrate. Even businesses that have embraced cloud can derive more value from further adoption and integration into their organizations’ business strategy. One note of caution: some engagement models have higher costs per user and security, privacy and other risk needs to be considered when making investments.
A model of computing service delivery providing on-demand access to technology services (including applications, storage and infrastructure) in discrete “as needed” increments. Compared to traditionally sourced IT services, this model offers rapid deployment with low IT involvement, minimal capital investment and without the need for a significant support structure.

Dos and Don’ts for Business Strategy

However, enterprises must consider the following Do’s and Don’t’s when developing their enterprise cloud computing strategy.
4. Machine Learning Automates Analysis
Machine learning, which includes predictive analytics, covers cognitive systems that go beyond Big Data Analytics. It gives enterprises the capability to not only discover patterns and trends from increasingly large and diverse datasets but also enables them to automate analysis that has traditionally been done by humans, to learn from business-related interactions and deliver evidence based responses. It also provides confidence levels in the likely success of recommended actions. It gives enterprises the capability to deliver new differentiated/ personalized products and services, as well as increasing the effectiveness and/or lowering the cost of existing products and services. Machine learning initiatives should be considered, not only as strategic initiatives, but for their possible effect on other business strategies. However, deployment can carry business risk, so investment decisions should be approached with care.

The use of computing resources that have the ability to learn (acquire and apply knowledge and skills that maximize the chance of success). These cognitive systems have the potential to learn from business-related interactions and deliver evidence-based responses to transform how organizations think, act and operate.
However, enterprises must consider the following Do’s and Don’ts when developing their enterprise machine learning strategy.
Source: Why the value of Big data analytics continues to be a big deal; Mobile technologies continue to drive business value; Why cloud computing should be part of business strategy; Machine learning drives big business benefits, ISACA.

How to Move Forward with New Digital Trends
A key element of governance is asking the right questions. Board members and executive management should consider these questions when evaluating strategy relative to new digital trends.
1.    How does the organization identify the new or maturing technologies that might be of value and merit consideration in setting or adjusting strategies, objectives and plans?
2.    Who is responsible for the assessment process?
3.    Who determines whether existing strategies, objectives or plans should be adjusted?
4.    Does the assessment consider the potential for value to be created in multiple areas of the organization, or does each functional area act on its own?
5.    Does the assessment consider, with inclusion in the process of related experts, potential compliance and other risk?
6.    Does the assessment consider the potential actions of competitors, suppliers, customers and regulators?
7.    Does the board discuss the potential represented by new or maturing technology on a regular basis and as part of its discussions of enterprise strategy?
8.    What are other companies like ours doing in this space?