3 Gartner Predictions that will change your business

A month ago, we were rapidly heading towards the end of the year, where many of you were focussing on “year end” – but did you take any time to think about what you're going to do different this year?. Here’s some food for thought:

Gartner recently released their 20th update to their “Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies” document. This 2014 edition has generated quite a lot of discussion around the internet and tech world. Will robots put people out of work or not? Both yes *and* no seems to be the answer.

Three Predictions you need to know

What, however, most people haven’t been talking about, is some of the other predictions which Gartner has made. In particular, there are three that I think you need to know about – here they are with my own comments on each:

Prediction: “By 2018, the total cost of ownership for business operations will be reduced by 30 percent through smart machines and industrialized services.”

This means it’s going to continue to become increasingly easier to start a business, as less capital will be needed. Businesses starting in the next few years will be able to survive longer on less money, which brings them closer to achieving success. For traditional companies too slow to react, this means an unattractive prospect of both lower profit margins due to locked-in operating expense AND increased competition.

Prediction: “By 2017, 70 percent of successful digital business models will rely on deliberately unstable processes designed to shift as customer needs shift.”

Startups exploring, experimenting and innovating their business models are building companies that are in tune with their customers. Those which maintain the ability adjust their business according to their customer needs will hold competitive advantage. Traditional organisations cannot easily adopt this model of deliberately unstable business models due to their lack of agility.

Prediction: “By 2017, 50 percent of consumer product investments will be redirected to customer experience innovations.”

The internet and global e-commerce has put consumer products in a race to the bottom in terms of pricing, undermining customer loyalty. As we begin to enter an era of more conscious consumerism, customer experience is being valued over price alone. Startups who build great customer experience into their culture will be able to take market share from those traditional companies who are still competing on product and price.

Just in case you missed it, the dates on these predictions are within two to three years from now. If you’re into Startups, you should be pretty excited about this and build aggressively to take advantage. If you’re in a medium to large company or organisation which still operates in a traditional business manner that takes a long time to react, you should be absolutely terrified.

Now is the time to act.

This article is a slighted updated version from the original.