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In New Zealand, as I write, we remain in COVID-19 lockdown. Like people everywhere I am working from a makeshift office, hastily put together that will have to do until we are out of this. I cannot help but be drawn by the similarities of my own circumstances with that of many businesses around the world who are in their own form of lockdown because of their dependency on physical computer servers.

Don’t be fooled by the deceptive ease with which you can get started on the Amazon Web Services cloud. While it is certainly true that you can get stuck in with nothing more than a credit card and a vague idea of what you’re after, it pays to start with sound foundations so that as your needs grow and evolve (as they inevitably do – just about everyone who tries AWS very quickly becomes a big fan of it’s low-cost, high-value services), you don’t end up with a horrendous tangle.

You have heard about it, read articles about it, or are potentially even practicing it today. A relatively new, often misunderstood term, Digital Transformation has become increasingly popular in the business scene.

And it is not going away.

In less than 2 decades, we have seen more than halfof the Fortune 500 companies disappear, whether it be through mergers, acquisitions or bankruptcy. Guess who has replaced them? The businesses that are paving the way in a new digital world - The Facebooks, Amazons, Ubers and Zappos of the world.

Technology has not only happened to us, it has caused a paradigm shift within us (society), and the way we live our lives. Inevitably, it has reached businesses who now struggle to meet the challenges of an aggressive pace of digital disruption, often left at a loss as to where to begin changing. 

As surprising as it may seem, digital transformation starts with people. The biggest change is not about the shifting technology, focusing on customer experiences, or finding the right product set to run a business. Although not easy, these shifts are all doable!

The magic happens when people are able to break through legacy business culture.

As straight forward as this may sound, our leaders are struggling with taking on, supporting, and encouraging digital transformation.

A testimony to this challenge is the way most leadership teams run.

That’s right, you need to call time on your relationship with the office server. If it helps, you can promise one another you’ll just be friends, and relegate the server to a minor role on the side. Or go hard, pull the pin completely and shut it down for good.

Admit it, you’ve probably had a few technology love affairs over the years. Was it the iPhone? That shiny new convertible laptop? We might not have been there, but did you brag about impressive specifications just after spending tens of thousands on the new server?

Maybe so, but times have changed and it just doesn’t measure up any longer.

With the whole world apparently going cloud crazy, you might get the idea that you’re missing out (and the chances are, if your technology systems are long in the tooth, you are). Check out these five signs which show your business is ready to take the leap…and reap the rewards.

Digital adoption for business is often talked about as though it is a simple choice of picking a technology, and implementing it within your business. However, for established organisations, it’s not as easy as a flip of a switch, it requires a deeper business change.

Embarking on a business wide change is not a project most people jump into when everything is running smoothly, but it is required if businesses want to stay ahead. To help you get going, we’ve identified the top three areas you should focus on that have the greatest impact in your business’ ability to adopt technology.

These days, there’s a persistent drive for organisations of every type to be innovative. It’s implied every time you hear the term ‘digital disruption’ or ‘digital transformation’. But just what does it mean to be innovative – and is it really necessary for your business?

It’s easy to answer the first part of that question.

‘Innovative’ simply means ‘something new’ and there are multiple opportunities within most businesses to do just that (new processes, experiences, features, customers, products and services, and business models.)

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In turn, most of these opportunities can be partially or fully enabled by readily available technology. More on that in a moment.

With all the advances in technology over the last three decades, the discovery of blockchain technology has arguably been one of the greatest, and most disruptive discoveries yet. 

Blockchain is inherently difficult to comprehend, because to understand blockchain technology, we need to adopt a new understanding of certain technologies and terms... but that's where we come in! 

Due to the hype, and prevalence blockchain technology is set to play in our future, we want to demystify what it is, and how it will affect business. 

These days, software is everywhere and just about every business relies on software developed specifically for that organisation. You might find yourself in a position where it’s necessary to commission and control the production of some code – a task which can appear Sisyphean because you don’t know much about the process.