The information revolution through mobility, the social media, the cloud and Big Data
A study conducted for EMC2 by Vanson Bourne and Institute for the Future examines the current panorama of business worldwide. These are some of the conclusions drawn from the current situation, which point to a future that could be nearer than we think.
Four technological megatrends shape the reality of business strategies today: the use of Big Data, mobility, the social media and cloud computing. These four pillars of innovation are redesigning the scenario in which the present generation is undertaking new ventures and redefining the business models and strategies of years past.
Faced with these changes, the generation that today is struggling with the unceasing deluge of information to remain at the forefront of their sector is known as the “information generation”.
This is precisely the purpose of the study The Information Generation: Transforming the Future, Today, with a sample of 3,600 business leaders (half from SMEs and the other half from companies with more than 1,000 employees, all classified into up to eight different sectors) from 18 countries in Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania.
Embracing change: reluctance and self-criticism
The “information generation” takes its name from the task it carries out for implementing the four aforementioned megatrends in the business models of their industrial sectors. Which does not mean that they are doing so quickly or in an exemplary fashion.
In fact, the study shows that today, at global level, less than half (40%-45%) of the companies surveyed believe that the social media and cloud computing have had no impact on their business.
But that's not all. When highlighting its shortcomings, the “information generation” seems to have no problems, as shown by the poor performance approval figures for the companies surveyed when it comes to translating data into decision- making (only one in four companies does so very effectively) or innovating swiftly and effectively (only 9% admit that they do it “extremely well”).
These data seem contradictory, coming as they do from the same sample of people, who have considered, in nearly 70% of the cases, that the adoption of the four megatrends is the catalyst for change in consumer behavior, as well as the aspect responsible for creating a new digital world.