Businesses hoping for a breather are likely to be disappointed. Amazon pushes new live code to its servers every 11.6 seconds, and clearly sees very few areas as off-limits for its expansion, recently illustrated by its foray into healthcare. Even a seemingly low-tech area such as the distribution of construction materials, which has historically been characterised by a lack of pricing visibility, informal relationships, and cash-based transactions is being disrupted by technology. Examples include a next generation supplier that utilises Oracle’s NetSuite for mobile ordering and delivery, within specified 30-minute slots, to construction sites.
Indeed, amid the obsession with the so-called FAANGs (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google), Oracle is a good example of a ‘pick and shovels’ tech company that quietly has been working away at some cutting-edge solutions, including the world’s first autonomous database. This machine learning-based data management offering promises to “eliminate human labour, human error and manual tuning” and thus significantly reduce costs for users. Similarly, Cisco Systems, another mature player, has invested heavily to facilitate the AI and machine-learning revolution, including through its recently released deep-learning server; the first that the company has created from the ground up for these applications. What’s more, it is also pushing the envelope through its intent-based network system. Described as a self-healing network, this is, among other things, designed to reduce the time (some 43% in Cisco’s own estimation) IT departments spend on reactive troubleshooting.
Where do emerging markets feature in all of this? No one will have failed to notice that China has become a central protagonist in the global tech race, driven by a host of factors, including the rapid adoption of mobile technology, strong government support, and a veritable explosion of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) graduates. And the attendant innovation drive is placing the country at the vanguard of new business processes. Alibaba’s push into offline, or ‘New Retail’, is a case in point. Its high-tech supermarket Hema, which doubles as a distribution centre, has grown from zero to over 60 stores in three years, and is widely thought to have put daylight between itself and online-offline efforts elsewhere. Customers order food on Hema’s app and, if they live within a three-kilometre radius, should have their shopping bags delivered within 30 minutes. Payments are made via Alibaba’s Taobao or Alipay platforms, and at a number of its stores, customers can pay through facial-recognition technology installed at kiosks.
