Who was it that said technology was going to make our lives easier? Could it have been Steve Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft until 2014?
The number one benefit of information technology is that it empowers people to do what they want to do. It lets people be creative. It lets people be productive. It lets people learn things they didn’t think they could learn before, and so in a sense it is all about potential. —S.B.
Maybe.
It most certainly makes our lives better, but I see more complexity now than five or 10 years ago. This is likely the result of globalization and hyper competition which is fittingly fed by technology itself.
Ten years ago (maybe even five years ago) I worried about how the future might look for Smart Dolphins IT Solutions and how we fit into the world. We thought that perhaps with a new tech savvy generation entering the business world they would make our apparent specialized technology knowledge and talents much more commonplace. We also see tremendous market pressures to improve technology and it seemed certain that the future would become technically much easier for businesses. I envisioned businesses simply buying a single box (or robot) that you just open, and it would do everything for you. Business life and technology specifically seemed destined to become simplified and easier.
But boy, was I wrong.
Then there was Dan Schulman president of PayPal, who said, “One way to understand human progress is to look at how technology has made products and services — once reserved for the elite — progressively more accessible and affordable.”
Which is great for the small to medium sized business community that we serve.
Why your small business needs an IT support company
Perhaps a simpler future is yet to unfold. Technology is accelerating and with it, so is the pace of change. This period of massive innovation has created some wonderful products and improved our everyday lives. However, technology is lowering business barriers to entry every day, and this is feeding the pace at which technology is creating a gazillion competing, innovative options. The whole cycle is accelerating. The average business decision maker is left stunned when facing the wall of choices. Honestly, I am in the technology business and my eyes glaze over a little when I think about the technology choices we have at our disposal. Therefore, I surround myself with amazing people.
Furthermore, these choices are not luxuries, not anymore. These same hyper-competitive forces are requiring smart business-technology decisions.
A basic program to model the current world:
- Add innovation
- Decrease competitive barriers to entry
- Increase competition
- Add competing innovation
- Increase choices
- Increase complexity
As worrisome as this is for all businesses to deal with (including Smart Dolphins), it is also comforting to know that IT support service providers like us have a critical role to play in the business community. We have positioned ourselves as a company that partners with our clients to take on this complexity challenge. There is clearly huge value here. There is so much more we can do with this and continue well into the future. We have always played an important role in the business and technology community, but I can now see that we are affirming our role as an important cog in the system of business IT in the communities that we operate in — technologically-speaking. That is why I am excited to get up in the mornings (albeit often, way too early).
Let’s not forget Elon Musk who recently said, “Engineering is the closest thing to magic that exists in the world.”
On that, of course, magic as we know it is performed by illusionists — it’s illusory. Engineering and technology on the other hand is advanced and performed by the real magicians.
Regardless of these inspirational quotes, the world is running on increasingly complex systems. Organizations often face critical challenges in managing and optimizing systems for the rapidly changing products of tomorrow.
Consumers’ demands on connectivity that are fuelled by the work from home or work from anywhere migration is changing at an unprecedented rate. These demands are driving companies in every industry to build more complex and more interconnected products and services.
Smart Dolphins endeavors to stay ahead of the knowledge curve. Our two-dozen technical dolphins work very hard at keeping ahead. We even have our very own certified Pearson VUE testing room. Our three core values are, “Elevate the Team,” “Find a Better Way,” and “Love Your Dolphin Life.”
All of these speak directly to being on top of the complex business-technology evolution.
And then there was this gem by Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube:
“Rarely are opportunities presented to you in a perfect way. In a nice little box with a yellow bow on top. Opportunities — the good ones —are messy, confusing, and hard to recognize. They’re risky. They challenge you.”
And we agree. The break-fix model of support that we offered (putting out fires as they flare up), is archaic and if that model of support is how your IT is managed today, welcome to Jurassic Park.
About Smart Dolphins IT Solutions
I started Smart Dolphins IT Solutions in the year 2000, on May 1 to be exact.
At that time, we provided IT service in all manner imaginable, but we soon learned that a well-planned, proactive process and the many things that go with being a Technology Success Partner is better for both the small to medium sized business being serviced as well as the service provider — us.
Smart Dolphins is now and has been for several years a world-ranked IT company in the Managed Service Provider category.
If you are not receiving proactive support with dedicated technical and business contacts or a well-crafted IT roadmap, or should you have concerns about technical debt or cybersecurity, reach out to us.