5 Ways The Internet Has Eased The Way We Do Business

By: Parag Arora, Area Vice President and Country Head, India Subcontinent, Citrix

There was a time when basic necessities in life included food, water, and shelter. However, in today’s day and age, while we don’t mind skipping a meal, we can’t go long without being online. In more ways than we can count, the Internet has changed our lives and disrupted how businesses work. Let us look at some of the things the internet has given us while we were busy updating our Facebook status.

1. Ditched The Desk

Thanks to the Internet, the notion of “going to work” has taken on a whole new meaning. Ten years ago, the question “do you need to spend eight hours a day in the office to be productive?” made absolutely no sense. Of course you did! But today things are different. Web based tools and cloud services have opened the doors to flexible working, making physical presence at work unnecessary. Employees now have the freedom to choose where and how they work, thus allowing them the opportunity of work-life integration.

2. Widened The Playing Field

Gone are the days when businesses relied solely on a handful of local customers to survive. The evolution of technology has helped flatten the marketplace and paved a path of vast opportunities for entrepreneurs by allowing them to enter markets around the world. A great example of this, is the e-commerce boom, which has connected buyers and sellers across the globe on a common platform. This has given small and medium players the opportunity to directly connect with the consumer and at the same time providing the consumer a wide array of options to choose from.

3. Together is Power

Businesses are actively investing in collaboration capabilities to bring innovation and agility to the table in order to stay at par with their competitors. Technology has given us flexibility in communication, like never seen before. The internet now allows geographically scattered teams to virtually meet from anywhere in the world through tools like conference calling, video conferencing, e-mail and instant messaging. Not only can employees, leaders and co-workers connect with one another at anytime from anywhere, but social networking sites like LinkedIn, allow businesses to stay connected with the larger ecosystem.

4. Storage Simplified

When was the last time you used a floppy disk, or even saw one in that case? Not in the last decade or so for sure. Storing information and its management is critical to every buisiness’ success. Companies, large and small now have a wide range of cost-effective choices to pick from, as per their storage needs. These could range from network-attached storage to cloud computing, which involves a third-party system that houses digital and data-based information on remote servers.

5. Data All The Way

There is a data deluge that has enveloped the entire world. While we are constantly trying to make sense of that data and use the insights derived from it to make the world a better place. Organizations too, have more data than ever at their disposal and face the challenge of deriving meaningful insights from that data. Big data analytics has aided organizations to harness their data, thus helping in identifying new opportunities. This has eventually led to smarter business decisions, efficient operations, greater profits and happier customers.