Different people in business are inevitably going to have different attitudes about how much effort you should put into the purely technological aspect of your operations. While some might think it more important to put your attention on the product that you create, the service you provide, and the people that you work with, others might argue that your ability to do all of these things is determined by the technology that you yield.
Putting too much of a focus on this might have you constantly playing catch up, however, especially with the rate at which technology seems to advance. With all of these conflicting views, what’s the right solution for you?
Pick and Choose
It’s not only the rate of technological improvements that might seem as though there’s a rush to get involved, but also the sheer number of areas in which these improvements are occurring. Trying to stay on top of all of these wouldn’t just be an incredibly exhausting exercise, it would be an expensive one as well – something that renders the whole thing an unrealistic venture. In that case, you might find it easier to choose where to focus your efforts.
For many, this won’t be difficult because they’ll simply try and align this choice of technology with whatever industry you find yourself in. If your work involves warehouses and storage, tracking tools or equipment that can be used with the Internet of Things might make your work much more efficient, for example. Similarly, if you’re in software development, knowing of resources like Kubernetes Ingress could allow you to take on a more proactive approach to your work and might change your working structure as a whole.
Playing Catch Up
The risk of trying to simply catch up with where you think your business should be at every time there’s a new relevant technological development could simply be that you’re always one step behind your competitor. Staying ahead of the curve is more appealing. Still, equally it’s more difficult, because it requires you to be able to properly assess which technologies are worth investing in before they’ve had time to become commonplace in your industry. This means that you’re going to have to take some risks, and sometimes that won’t pay off. It’s true that taking risks is part of business, but if you feel this investment is make or break, it might not be worth the sheer risk when there isn’t enough information to discern what it will do for you.
The idea that you have to be first past the post in regards to technology might not be an accurate one. After all, it’s more about how you use technology rather than whether or not you have it. A competitor of yours might be faster than you at integrating a new technology into their operations, but if you use the knowledge and experience gained after observing how this technology affects the landscape, you might be able to use it in a way that is ultimately more impressive – and that’s what matters.
Maintaining Speed
You might also find that the optimal answer to this question isn’t so easily answerable as a straight yes or no question. If you neglect new technology then this is bound to have an impact on your ability to keep pace with the landscape around you. However, too much of a concern about how this technology can be used might distract from other areas of your business.
Even while your primary focus is on your core service or on improving the working structure of your business, you’re going to need to make sure that you’re at least keeping pace. For example, apps need to be updated to work with newer operating systems, you can’t ignore AI when it comes to content, even if you’re not planning on using it yourself. Your brand is a part of the wider landscape, and an awareness of changes that occur to that landscape can better help you to prepare for them. This means that it might not be about staying ahead of the technological curve, but instead about what you can do to adapt to it when that time comes.
