A Software-Defined World
Technology, especially software technology, has been changing the business landscape for years; it shall continue to do so for many years to come.
Today, many established businesses and startups are using available software technology that has allowed businesses to innovate faster and come up with new, better ways to serve their customers better.
In the modern business landscape, the most profitable and successful businesses are the ones that have, and that keep adopting and integrating technology into their operations at every level possible.
Software is one of the technological advancements that businesses are increasingly turning to and using to enhance their efficiency, service delivery, and to remain competitive in a highly competitive marketplace.
Today, software-based advancements like anything as a Service (XaaS), an umbrella term that covers software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (Iaas), have altered the business in unchangeable ways.
We are living in a software-defined world
When you use your Uber, Lyft, or any other ride-sharing app to request a ride, use Zoom to hold conference calls, ask Alexa or Siri for instructions, or use Bitcoin to make a payment, you are, in essence, using software-dependent services.
Software-defined companies are not businesses that sell software in the traditional sense of the word. Instead, they’re enterprises and companies that are adapting to and integrating software to their value chain or, if not that, using software advancements like cloud computing or AI to improve their ability to serve their target audiences.
Such businesses are changing the business landscape rapidly because of the following factors:
- AGILITY
By design and compared to their non-software defined peers, software-defined companies and products are more agile; they are, therefore, more capable of pivoting and sprinting to keep up with rapid changes in the business atmosphere.
Being quick on their feet (agility) gives software-defined businesses advantages that traditional businesses can only hope for, advantages that are acting like great change catalyst in the business world.
For illustration, let’s use Google:
According to a HubSpot-compiled list of top 36 SaaS companies, Google has approximately 137 internet/software-based services that include Google AdSense, its primary moneymaker, contributing as much as 68% of Google’s income ($45 billion in 2014).
Because of it’s software-centric and internet-based nature, at a moment’s notice, Google can use continuous integration (CI) to offer real-time updates to its ad platform.
Unlike their non-software-driven counterparts, such companies can pivot rapidly, thereby innovating faster and in ways that allow them to increase their efficiency, service delivery, and bottom line.
- EFFICIENCY
Businesses that use the traditional approach or model make money when potential costumers make their way to the physical store, browse, find something they like or want, and then make a purchase.
The traditional approach involves too many moving pieces that complicate the sales and buy-decision process. Software-defined businesses can shake off such disadvantages with ease.
Thanks to integrated technologies such as user-friendly, intuitive web-based platforms that use cloud-based architecture, software-defined companies can give their users a ton of functionalities at the click of a button.
- SCALING
Software-defined businesses such as those in the SaaS industry rely heavily on cloud-based infrastructure to deliver services. This reliance makes them immensely scalable.
That’s because since their framework is in the cloud, they can deploy many services and feature-offerings at a click of a button, which allows them to scale more efficiently and faster.
With cloud computing, SaaS enterprises, for example, can use technologies such as cloud hardware and intelligence, cloud storage, cloud networking, cloud analytics, DevOps, Identity and access management (IAM), and many others to offer rapid solutions to emerging user needs.
These solutions allow them to deploy additional features fast and in a manner that heralds them into new spheres of growth and scalability that traditional businesses cannot compete against or match —at least not without integrating software into their structures.
Why software-driven businesses will dominate the business landscape of the future
Enterprises that embrace and use software solutions to innovate and enhance service delivery will dominate the business landscape of the future. They will be leaders in industries such as finance, energy and utilities, healthcare and Lifesciences, finance, retail, and many other sectors.
This dominance will be because of various factors that are driving the development of software-based startups and the rapid adoption of Everything as a Service (XaaS). The most standout of these features include:
I. A convenience-driven world
Our desire for convenience is why we have innovations such as electricity, cars, computers, the internet, phones, and any other technological advancements imaginable.
Technology has made our lives vastly efficient. That notwithstanding, consumer expectations are that as new technologies such as AI mature and become widely adopted, convenience will become a defining characteristic of business life.
They expect the companies they favour to offer them convenience-driven products and services that save them time, effort, energy, and other resources. They also expect the methodology of using these services to be efficient and frustration-free. These expectations are acting as a catalyst that is driving many businesses to innovate and look for new ways to serve their core consumer base better.
II. Affordability
There’s nothing consumers love more than to have a feature-rich Rolodex at affordable prices. Affordability is one of the main reasons why software-defined businesses will dominate the business landscape of the future.
Businesses that integrate smart technologies such as cloud computing, identity management, AI, and others into their operations will make themselves agile and capable of innovating faster. This ability will make them able to roll out a wide selection of services and features at the click of a button without raising consumer prices.
Moreover, looking into the future, as cloud-based technologies mature, they’ll become cheaper, which will make moving services into the cloud more sensible from a business standpoint.
III. Ease-of-use
One of the most significant benefits of software-driven companies is that they make rendering services easy and intuitive. This ease-of-use and adaptation to changing consumer needs will give software-driven enterprises the juice they need to dominate their market spaces.
Conclusion
While non of us can predict what the future shall look like, every indicator is that in the next 10-15 years, businesses that become technology and software-centric by integrating software development into their core service offering will dominate the financial, hospitality, travel, and customer services sectors, to name but a few.
Businesses of all sizes, therefore, must open their eyes to the reality that to remain competitive in the marketplace of the future, they need to embrace and integrate software/technological advancements into their operations.
