The world is changing. Technology has enabled people, companies, and governments to operate more efficiently than ever before. This change often seems slow and incremental. That's because it's happening on a small scale; individual improvement cases are seen across many industries. Looking at how digital transformation services intersect, you see how technology will change the world in ground-breaking ways.
This article will briefly discuss some of these technologies:
Cloud
The model for enabling ubiquitous network access to a pool of configurable computing resources that is on-demand and highly convenient is called cloud computing. The same can be provisioned instantaneously and also released with barely any management effort or service provider interaction. The shared resources consist of networks, servers, storage and applications.
Cloud computing shares many characteristics with utility computing, although there are some notable differences between the two models. In cloud computing systems, infrastructure is typically virtualised and dynamically scaled rather than being separated and assigned statically to different customers, as in grid computing.
Edge Computing
The term was initially used in 2010 and refers to processing data at the network’s edge rather than relying on centralised architectures. It is an architectural approach to distributed computing resources (processing power, memory, and storage) closer to where they are needed to improve efficiency, cost-effectiveness, latency and scalability.
Edge computing can be divided into Cloud Edge and Fog/Mist. Cloud Edge includes technologies such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure Stack & Google Cloud Platform that enable organisations to host their applications closer to end-users by utilising public cloud infrastructure with built-in capabilities for localisation or co-location with other services (e.g., storage). Fog/Mist technologies enable organisations to deploy applications at physical locations between devices and centralised data centres (i.e., within a city or region).
Internet of Things
IoT is a network of devices capable of sensing and communicating with the Internet. It uses the innovation that allows devices to be connected via embedded technology, allowing them to share information and data.
In short, IoT is a network of physical objects capable of sensing and communicating with each other. One example would be smart locks. These allow unlocking doors using Bluetooth technology when approaching from your phone or another device.
Artificial Intelligence
As the branch of computer science that aims to make machines capable of intelligent behaviour, such as learning and problem solving, AI is used to automate tasks that have previously required human intervention, like customer service and data entry.
AI has the potential to help companies to make better decisions about their products or services. If your company develops a new product or service, AI can be used to crunch the numbers and find out how likely that product will be successful in the market.
Blockchain
A blockchain is a database that keeps a continuously growing list of records called blocks. Each block consists of a hash pointer in addition to transaction data (e.g., timestamp and token value). The first block in the chain also includes all previous blocks’ hashes, linking them into one continuous record. Blocks are collated to the chain regularly by miners using cryptography to verify each new addition.
Cybersecurity
It is all about protecting your business and its assets. Cybersecurity is essential in digital transformation services, ensuring that whatever new technology you implement will work as intended without being compromised or misused by hackers.
Conclusion
All of these technologies are used to improve business processes, but there is no one-size-fits-all solution for every organisation. Companies need to ensure they're using the right mix of technologies for their industry and goals.