Technology Adoption: Think Value, Not Challenges

“When you’re finished changing, you’re finished” – Ben Franklin

Looking at the rapid pace at which the technology landscape is evolving, this quote fits best for  businesses today. Many businesses are scared to take an unconventional road; especially when they are persuading their business to adopt a new technology. The common question that swirls through their minds is – Is it really needs to run my business? Can I afford it? Can I implement it properly? What to should we do if something goes wrong?

After all these confusions, many of them conclude that they are better of operating the way they know best. The conventional road has always given them constant profits.

According to KPMG’s report on Investment in technology innovation, the annual investment in innovation of many companies even large organizations are very moderate:

Annual Innovation investment

The result showed widespread reluctance in adopting technology innovations. The benefits of emerging technology are still not properly known.

This matter of concern needs to be solved!

Reasons for the Slow Adoption of Modern Technology Solution

Let’s understand what causes the fear of implementing a new technology in an organization, the fear of transforming into an advanced digital business & automating the repetitive manual tasks and the fear of adopting an intelligent system.

High Cost

There are abundant benefits of adopting new technology, but most businesses lag for one reason – budget. Onboarding and implementation of successful technology adoption requires some upfront investment. Some business owners see it as an additional expense, which is not worth the investment. Unless the solution is cost-effective and well proven, most businesses will steer away from it.

Lack of Technology Exposure

Lack of awareness is one of the common reasons for slow adoption. As businesses are always busy keeping the lights on, they are not exposed to emerging technologies. Moreover, SMEs won’t have enough technology experts who can demonstrate and articulate the values of new technologies.

Integration & Training Concerns

Many companies believe that integrating new technologies might disrupt the current workflow and cause more harm than good in a successfully running existing process. The fear is real – there is no doubt that any breakdown of timeworn processes is a risk. If a company has never experienced any problem with its existing technology, they may find little reason to change. Another common concern to hesitate is employees might have a hard time learning a new system.

Fear of Failure

“Change is scary – and it creates unease at all levels of the business, even executive levels,” says Jones.

A survey by kcom found that several companies were concerned about failing. This fear restrains them from adopting innovation and moving forward with modern technology adoption. SMEs have less money to invest in experimenting with new technology, thus much less space for error.

Fear of making the wrong choice

With the rapid pace of technology innovation, not only are there countless new technologies available, but also the possibility of enhancing existing solutions with features. This growing plethora of innovative technologies leads to too much confusion around which is the best investment for their business. Software and tools are designed to be more effective, but if we don’t adopt the right technology, it turns counterproductive.

Some challenges to adopting technology do exist. However, they are not insoluble. Hence, instead of passing the new technologies to the Too-Hard basket, consider where it can take you.

Why is Technology Adoption Important?

Have you ever considered the burdens that your outdated technology carries with it? Relying heavily on old technology limits your productivity. New technologies are emerging to address the problems of the outdated ones.

Security Issue: The older technologies, which have not been updated frequently dilute the security and protection in place. The older the technology is, the harder it is to defend from cyber-attacks and hacks.

The new technology packed with reliable security measures can combat current security threats. With technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence, you will be empowered with the ability to detect threats earlier before it exploits, thereby you can reduce the damage and quickly restore your system.

Sudden Failure: If your old technology, which runs for years, gets a sudden failure, you have to upgrade it in a hurry. Without having adequate time to research, you will end up with a great expense and maybe wrong choice in the rush.

The consistent approach to upgrading or migrating to new technologies is easier to manage. You will get enough time to research and select the right solution.

No scope for improvement – Being stagnated with the old technology, closes the door for progress in the business.

The early adopters of the new technologies are proving to be enjoying the benefits of quick adoption and staying top in the competition. Take Netflix and Amazon, for instance. Being an early adopter of machine learning and big data, they have developed their recommendation engines. As a result, both companies achieved better customer engagement and accomplished growth and dominance in their market.

According to a report of kpmg, Industry leaders, who adopted the new technologies ranked increased profitability and business efficiencies as the top benefits of adopting new technologies:

Tips to Overcome the Fear of New Technology Adoption

If you are somewhere in the middle of the new technology adoption curve, here are a few steps you can take to overcome those fears with new technology:

• Search for solutions to your Problems – Instead of researching new technology and finding out how it helps your business, just figure out your problems and search solutions in technology to address the challenges.
• Get help from Experts – If you are not a tech-savvy, connect with technology experts to realize what is there in the market. Their guidance will assist you in adopting new technology.
• Leverage Trail versions – Most of the products come with trial versions that can be used to check proof of concept, which helps in understanding the technology much better and getting a practical experience.
• Use Minimum Viable Product – It is an incremental approach. You can empower your product with must-have modern features by measuring customer satisfaction and real market feedback.
• Empower your team – we can’t expect much from under-budgeted, under-resourced and under-trained team. Invest in top-notch skilled experts to save your time and money in training them.
• Decide based on value – Don’t go for technology based on what you are comfortable with or what’s new and most popular. Try converting everything into numbers and calculate how much you could save by adopting new technology. Look for its ROI.
• Use a smooth transition – Instead of migrating everything at once, employ a phased approach. Switch a fraction of your product at a time and concentrate on one new technology at a time. It will reduce the integration and training burden.

Explore a smart approach for your Legacy App Modernization, here.  

Closure

Don’t let yourself become a dinosaur. Your business will become an archaic if you fall out of touch with emerging technologies. At this current pace of change, it is exponentially difficult to meet the demands as time passes. The ideal solution to overcome the fear of new technology is to adapt to it gradually. Consider these key points for your business success:

• Carefully consider the time of adoption based on the competition and industry landscapes
• Have a close market watch for technology use cases and successes
• Plan to balance your fast change and immediate needs
• Communicate the risk of the legacy system across the whole organization

Don’t be afraid to leverage the benefits of modern technology, which has the power to transform your business!