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Digital Disruption

The last decade has seen exponential growth in disruptive technologies. The first half gave us Smartphones, Social Media, Big Data and Cloud. These foundational Digital forces represent a groundbreaking shift in how technology shapes both human lives and businesses. It has resulted in a tremendous shift in the channels through which companies connect with customers and also a tectonic change in how technology is designed, built and delivered.

The world in your palms

Smartphones (with the launch of the iPhone in 2007) and Tablets brought about the ability to put a high powered, internet connected, always on device in the hands of a user. A smartphone today has several million times the computing power that Apollo XI would have had, to send Neil Armstrong to the moon. This always-on window to the sum of all human knowledge is now in the hands of almost 2.5 billion people on the planet.

The Real Tooth

It is estimated that more people on the planet own a mobile phone than a toothbrush! It is easy to laugh at this global sidelining of what we think is basic hygiene, but what it really tells us, is that the ability to stay connected has the power to change and improve lives at an unprecedented scale. Toothbrushes can come later, Texting is more useful right now!

Data and Lore

As computing power and storage technologies became bigger, faster and cheaper, it became possible to process and analyze huge amounts of data in real-time. It also gave rise to NoSQL technologies (SQL based relational databases were the norm before) to address the challenges of large scale processing of unstructured and diverse kinds of data. It is estimated that more than 90% of all data ever generated by mankind was generated in the last two years, and this trend is only going to go up exponentially.

Elastic and On-Demand

When Amazon Web Services launched in 2006, it changed the world. If you wanted to build an app, you could just do it without needing to invest in servers, networking, storage and building a datacenter to manage all of it. All you needed was an internet connection and a credit card. It dematerialised IT Infrastructure and democratised application development. The world of startups would not exist without the Cloud.

Digital Transformation

The convergence of Mobile, Social, Big Data and Cloud has transformed Customer Experience, Business Models, Products and Services, Channels and Workplaces. There is a shift from Transactional mode to an Experiential mode. Companies are now connected to customers not just at the point of sale but through a longer life cycle across multiple channels such as social media and "phygital" (physical-digital) experiences such as modern day retail stores!

The Rise of the Machines

Artificial Intelligence is the hottest digital disruption in the last few years. The confluence of computing power, large scale storage and memory technologies have resulted in the ability for self-learning algorithms to achieve a breakthrough that is effective in areas such as object recognition, recommendation engines, predictive analytics and Natural Language Processing.

Internet of Everything

The miniaturization of network-connected sensors that can be deployed anywhere has radically transformed many industries. Automotive companies can now get real-time performance data of their cars! Building managers can optimize climate control systems dynamically based on real time conditions!

Blockchain

A Blockchain is a disruptive open source technology that enables decentralization of trust. It is a distributed transactional ledger, that was originally created to enable cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin;but the underlying technology now sees wide applications in areas such as insurance, banking, healthcare and education too!

Summary: Why is Digital Different?

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