Many business leaders pride themselves on having the necessary skills and qualifications to lead teams, build successful businesses, and make complex decisions. However, they often feel uncomfortable making information technology-related decisions due to a lack of understanding.
Technology is a core component of most modern workplaces, and decision-makers need to have a firm grasp on how it affects their businesses. If you’re trying to fill in your knowledge gaps around this crucial topic, start with the following terms.
Cyber Resilience
The term cyber resilience describes a business or entity’s ability to deliver results despite adverse cyber events. Essentially, a company that factors cyber resilience into its business plan has prepared for, responded to, and recovered from a cyber challenge.
An example of this might be if they lost all their data through a cyber attack but were able to recover it by having backup services in place as a ‘just in case’ measure.
Adaptive Technology
Adaptive technology works in harmony with assistive technology. Adaptive tech describes products and tools that people with disabilities can use to perform tasks that may have previously only been suitable for people without disabilities. Meanwhile, assistive technology refers to products and services that help people with disabilities accomplish tasks with existing technology.
Disruptive Technology
We’re all familiar with disruptive technology, even if we didn’t know the IT term coined to describe it. This form of tech disrupts or displaces one that used to be the epitome of advancement. For example, CDs were disruptive to cassette tapes, and cloud computing was disruptive to flash drives.
Business Intelligence (BI)
One of your most important roles as a leader is making decisions that benefit your business, its bottom line, and employees. While you might be able to make ‘gut’ decisions based on your years of experience, it can often be more worth your while to utilize business intelligence (BI).
BI describes tools and software that enable you or your IT team to utilize raw data. This data can be mined, analyzed, and transformed into readable reports on which you can base your decisions. Business intelligence is crucial for making sound decisions, creating new opportunities, and even cutting costs.
Cloud Computing
In past years, the only way to access your computing resources was to install a server in your workspace. Everyone who needed to view workplace information had to be on a computer connected to the network.
That all changed with cloud computing, and if you’re not familiar with it, now might be the right time to change that. Cloud computing is an umbrella term for products, services, and platforms accessible over the internet.
Rather than being confined to your office, you and your team can access all work-related information from computers and mobile devices, no matter where you are.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence describes both machines and programs created to function like humans to save time, money, and effort. A wide range of AI exists, with functions like problem-solving, speech, learning, and planning. While AI can be a daunting prospect, it’s a term business leaders may see the value in learning more about.
Companies can experience increased efficiency and productivity by using process automation to take care of previously laborious and manual tasks humans perform.
As a business leader, you will likely never be able to keep up with all the technology appearing on the world stage, but the bare basics can help you drive your company forward. These terms are just a few of the many you may like to familiarize yourself with.