Some people may still think of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as some sort of science fiction, but most of us now understand how much it has developed and become part of our daily lives. With it being accepted by mainstream society, businesses have also realised its wide range of uses. As artificial intelligence technologies advance, they are becoming vital for companies to maintain a competitive advantage.

Business models across different industries are at different levels of AI adoption, but most are using it to improve customer services, data analysis, predicting performance to automate workloads and so on. Thus, many experts say that the trend towards adoption is currently not adequately responding to its rapidly evolving intelligence capabilities.

Everything is becoming more connected and as such, businesses now have the ability of collecting more data, get insights and innovate. This will result in the markets evolving by becoming faster marketplaces, with streamlined operations, dynamic businesses and more informed consumers.

Artificial Intelligence excels at processing and analysing large data sets much quicker than a human brain could. AI software can present synthesized courses of action to the human user. In this way, humans can use AI to help predict the possible consequences of each action and streamline the company’s decision-making process.

Moreover, this technology is also changing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. Software, like Salesforce or Zoho, requires heavy human intervention to stay updated and accurate. However, when AI is applied to these platforms, an average CRM system transforms into a self-updating, auto-correcting system that stays on top of a company’s relationship management.

Another example of AI’s versatility is within the financial sector. Dr. Hossein Rahnama, founder and CEO of Flybits, worked on integrating this technology into regular banking operations, such as mortgage loans. He stated that with this new technology, if a customer has a mortgage with a bank that is up for a renewal soon and the customer is walking by a branch, he will receive a personalised message to go to the branch and renew the mortgage. Furthermore, if a user is looking at a property for, say over 10 minutes, a personalised mortgage offer will be sent. The goal here is that customers are no longer expected to search online for everything they need. Such technology focuses on shifting to how the right information finds the right user at the right time.

Even with the exciting future that AI brings with it, there are growing concerns about business model transformations and the risks associated with it. Businesses often foster an environment of mistrust towards each other within their industries. This prevents a common approach to data collection and information access. Moreover, many countries also lack the required digital data infrastructure.

Therefore, even though AI is integral in the future of businesses across nations, the emerging trends are presenting various risks and uncertainties. AI-driven business transformation is closely linked to how nations manage their significant data capabilities. Many experts in the field are emphasising the need to advance data initiatives in order to gather more information that evolves the AI landscape further.

Telecommunication does not only bring people together; it also brings businesses closer. Today, it is not a question of whether or not a business uses telecommunication, but rather, how well it is utilizing the benefits of such technologies. This includes all the technologies that may be used to exchange information with others over long distances, through electronic channels. These include smartphones, the internet and any other wireless and satellite systems that connect computers.

The most obvious benefit of this technology is improved and faster communication. It allows companies to communicate will all their prospects, customers, as well as, suppliers and all stakeholders. Such platforms allow for a more efficient and effective sales process, complaint handling and responding to service requests. In fact, ordering from suppliers is not only fast, but may also be automatic; Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software may be used to automatically order replacement items when a sale is made, without any human intervention.

Increased collaboration and flexibility are clear advantages of such technologies for businesses. Smartphones, laptops and tablets connected to a cellular service or WIFI network allow employees to connect with each other any time and from anywhere in the world. It is especially beneficial for cross-functional teams to work together. People can collaborate on the same report or project and see everyone’s contribution in real-time, through services like Microsoft OneDrive and Google Drive. In addition, online chat software and video-conferencing applications give employees the opportunity to work from remote locations. This has facilitated the rise in teleworking that was essential during the past months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Going forward, the imminent introduction of 5G wireless systems will surely enhance the speed of video calls and make such technologies more accessible to everyone.

Building interpersonal customer relationships and loyal customers is paramount for the success of small businesses. Telecommunications with integrated databases and algorithmic software allow organisations to communicate with customers in ways that were not possible a few years back. By using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, a business can keep a record of all its interactions with each individual customer. This allows them to gain insight into customers’ personal preferences, likes and dislikes and what marketing communications would be best suited for them. Understanding one’s customer is no longer based on demographics or statistics, but on a data-based analysis of each individual. Thus, telecommunications allow companies to modify their marketing message to target their customers.

For small business to succeed, they must have timely and reliable communication within their organisation and with their customers. Choosing the right telecommunications service provider, as well as, the right software and IT vendor are vital for the well-being of the company.

For more information regarding such services, kindly contact Clamtech on +356 2090 8800 or by email on: [email protected]

While cyber-crime is constantly on the rise, it has been a growing trend in the last few decades and businesses have been a target ever since, regardless of their structure and reputation. All around the world businesses have suffered cyber-attacks and this proved very costly for the victims, all the way down to revenue loss and a decrease in customer trust.

It will protect your business – This has to be the biggest advantage of deciding to upgrade your IT systems, digital protection is necessary for every business operating as each day hackers and generated AI tend to learn new ways of how to compromise your systems. Having a tight security network in your office space will allow your employees to surf the internet as and when they need. This will ensure that they aren’t at any risks from potential threats or attacks.

Protecting Personal Info – In today’s world; the digital age, your personal information can be considered as a valuable commodity for hackers. If your systems are infected with a virus and it is able to obtain any personal information regarding your company, employees or even clients, they are very much capable of spreading or selling this information. Consequence to this, with the strict laws in GDPR your business can be at risk of getting fined and even sued by the people who were targeted.

Working Safely – Without any cyber security solutions for your business, everyone who is directly or indirectly involved with the business such as the employees, clients or partners are constantly at risk from a potential cyber-attack. If the system you are using is potentially old and outdated, do not think twice about upgrading and replacing it. In the long term, it’s way better to invest in security rather than replace individual computers and dealing with legal trouble. This also will decrease productivity and force you to spend more money on replacing expensive hardware or software.

Productivity – We cannot go on without mentioning the trouble one has to go through when encountering a system virus. While not only slowing down personal computers, this would be a big-time waster for you and your employees and may bring your business to a complete halt.

Stop your website from going down – In 2020 almost every business has their own website set up and there a high probability that the companies host their own website. If your system becomes infected, in most cases your website is the first thing that goes down and is forced to shut down. Not only would you be losing money and customers, but also missed transactions and other frustrating occurrences that may hinder the Company’s reputation. Even when companies recover from an attack, it may not be enough as certain viruses can often result in long lasting damage to a system.

Denies Spyware – Spyware is a form of a cyber infection which is purposely designed to attack and spy on your computer system. The spyware will register and relay every action taken back to the hackers. Consult with a trusted IT specialist to see which software solution is adequate for your systems, this ensures that any spyware attacks are prevented and ensures that your employees’ actions remain          private and      confidential.

Prevents Adware – Adware is one of the 20 existing computer viruses. It fills your computer with advertisements and is more common more than one would think. However, these adverts can have a big impact on productivity and can often choke your computers, making it impossible to work on them. If one accidently clicks on them, these may allow any other viruses to enter your computer.

Inspiring Confidence in Your Customers – If you inspire and prove to your clients that you have good security measures, that their personal information is safe by taking pre-cautions, this will build trust in your customers. Having your business effectively protected against all kinds of cyber threats will make your clients more confident when purchasing your product or when making use of your service.

For more information you may contact Clamtech on +356 2090 8800 or via email on: [email protected].

These days technology is evolving at such a fast pace that trend predictions may seem out of date before they are even published. As technology advances, it enables even faster change, accelerating the rate of change and eventually becoming exponential. Tech-based careers are heavily influenced by these trends and IT professionals realise that their role will change over time. This means that people working in the IT field must be especially up to date with technological advancements. However, everyone in today’s world is influenced by IT and technology, thus we must all keep an eye out for future trends.

These are the trends to look out for in 2020:

• Artificial intelligence – It has been receiving a lot of attention in recent years and will continue to be a trend to look out for in 2020. This is because AI will soon change the way we live, work and play. It is still at an early stage, but five out of six Americans already use AI in their everyday lives, including: navigation apps, smart home devices and smartphone personal assistants. In addition to consumer use, AI is also gaining popularity in other areas, such as: scheduling trains, assessing business risk and improving energy efficiency. This type of automation is currently a hot topic due to the potential loss of jobs. However, it is predicted that AI will contribute to 23 million jobs in 2020. Jobs will be created in development, programming, testing and maintenance. The role of an AI architect will require many skilled professionals in the near future.

• Blockchain technology– It is essentially a digital ledger used to record transactions securely, due to its encrypted and decentralized nature. There were some that, during 2019, argued that this technology was over-hyped and not as useful as first thought. However, continued investment by companies like FedEx, IBM, Walmart and Mastercard during the past year is likely to start showing results and increase the rate of adoption by smaller companies. Furthermore, Facebook is scheduled to launch its own blockchain-based crypto currency, called Libra.

• 5G networks – The 5^th generation of mobile internet connection will give us very fast download and upload speeds as well as more stable connections. 5G mobile data networks became available in 2019 but they are still mostly expensive and only work in small areas or major cities. However, 2020 will be the year that 5G will become widely available and affordable, with improved coverage. These networks will have faster speeds than wired networks used for homes and businesses.

• Internet of Things (IoT) – This emerging technology is definitely the future and is already enabling devices, home appliances, cars and much more, to be connected to and exchange data over the internet. The number of IoT devices reached 8.4 billion in 2017 and will reach 30 billion devices in 2020. We, as consumers, use IoT daily. We can lock our doors remotely and preheat our oven on the way home, while tracking our fitness on a Fitbit and booking a cab. Businesses also have much to gain from IoT. It can increase safety, efficiency and decision making, as data is collected and analysed. Moreover, IoT enables predictive maintenance, speeds up medical care and improves customer service. However, for IoT to be effective and reach these heights, more IT professionals need to be trained in this field.

• Edge computing– Cloud computing is no longer an emerging technology, with major companies now dominating the market. As the level of data continues to rise, some shortcomings of cloud computing have started to be realized. Edge computing is designed to solve these problems and bypass the latency caused by cloud computing and getting data to a datacentre for processing. It is used for processing time-sensitive data in remote locations with limited or no connectivity to a centralized location. Edge computing will increase as use of the Internet of Things (IoT) devices increases.

All these emerging technologies are showing a lot of promise in producing significant competitive advantage for companies, as well as, making consumers’ lives easier. Other trends generating a lot of hype include: virtual reality, computer vision, smart cars and autonomous driving.