Slow Adoption of Technology

Due to several obstacles, tech adoption at an organizational level is often slow or even absent. While the benefits of embracing technology in business are well-known, but still a considerable proportion of businesses lagging behind the times.

“When you’re finished changing, you’re finished” — Ben Franklin

Looking at the rapid pace at which the technology is evolving, this quote fits best for businesses. Many businesses are frightened to take an unconventional road; especially when they are inducing their business to adopt new technology. The common question that agitates through their minds is — What to should we do if something goes wrong? Can I implement it properly? Can I afford it? Is it needed to run my business?

With these confusions, many of them conclude that they are better of operating the way they know best. The traditional road has always given them constant profits.

Reasons for the Slow Adoption of Modern Technology

Let’s try to understand the reasons behind the slow adoption of new technologies in any organization.

High Cost

The main reason behind the absence of new technology adoption in the businesses is Budget. Implementation and Adoption of new technology require some upfront investment. Some organizations see it as an additional expense, which is not worth it. Unless the solution is cost-effective and well-proven.

Lack of Technology Exposure

The absence of awareness is one of the typical reasons for slow adoption. As organizations are always busy keeping the lights on, they are not exposed to emerging technologies. Most SMEs does not have enough technology experts who can demonstrate and articulate the values of new technologies.

Integration & Training Concerns

Many organizations believe that the implementation of new technologies might disrupt the current workflow and cause more harm than good in successfully running the existing process. There is no doubt that any breakdown of typical processes is a risk. If a company has never experienced any problem with its existing technology, it may find little reason to change.

Fear of Failure

This fear controls them from adopting and moving forward with the adoption of modern technology. Organizations have less money to invest in experimenting with new technology, thus much less space for error.

Fear of Making the Wrong Decision

With the rapid pace of technology innovation, the possibility of enhancing existing solutions with features is increased. Software and tools are designed to be more effective, but the failure in adoption right technology turns counterproductive.

There are some challenges in adopting new technologies but are not insoluble. Hence instead of avoiding new technology adoption, consider where it can take you.

Why is Technology Adoption Important?

Relying heavily on old technologies would limit your productivity, and the emerging new technologies address the problems of outdated ones.

Security Issue: The older the technology is, the difficult it is to defend from cyber-attacks and hacks. Hence it dilutes security and protection. The new technology comes with reliable security measures that can combat current security threats.

With the help of technologies like Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, one can detect the threats before it exploits, can reduce the damage, and restore the system quickly.

Sudden Failure: You have to upgrade your older technology in a hurry if it gets into a sudden failure. Without proper research, you will end up with the wrong choice and great expense.

The consistent approach to upgrading to new technologies is easier to manage. As it has enough time to research and select the right solution.

No scope for improvement: The quick adoption of the new technologies is proved to be staying top in the competition. Consider Amazon and Netflix, for instance. Being an early adopter of machine learning and big data, they have developed their recommendation engines. As a result, both companies achieved more satisfactory customer engagement and accomplished growth and dominance in their market.

Conclusion

Your business will become obsolete if you fall out to adopt emerging technologies. At this rapid pace of change, it is exponentially difficult to meet the needs as time passes. The ideal solution to overcome new technology fears is to adapt to it gradually. Don’t be afraid to leverage the advantages of modern technology, which has the power to transform your business!