Technological advancements are transforming the way organizations across the world do business. Emerging technologies shake up markets and leave stakeholders questioning which industries will succeed or fail when the time comes for new adoptions. Disruptive technologies play a key role across this ever-evolving landscape.
The intersection of technology and business is central to computer information systems (CIS) work. An ability to understand and effectively navigate tech-driven disruption is a key attribute for aspiring CIS professionals.
The online Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Business Administration – Computer Information Systems program from Florida Institute of Technology provides students with an in-depth understanding of new technologies and their application to modern business. The program prepares graduates to successfully lead in an environment of near constant disruption.
What Does Disruptive Technology Mean?
According to Investopedia, “Disruptive technology is an innovation that significantly alters the way consumers, industries or businesses operate.” In some cases, businesses that adopt new technologies generate new markets and value. This leads to the disruption of well-established companies and business models.
In recent years, disruptive technologies have become more commonplace. Their applications may not attract interest initially, but once use cases prove beneficial to productivity, efficiency and profits, market adoption can become widespread, leading to further expansion of possible application development and implementation.
The internet is a classic example of disruptive innovation. When people used the web for the first time, few predicted how much it would change the world. The internet then set the stage for another disruptive technology: e-commerce. Nearly every product and service is now available through e-commerce transactions, from music and electronics to travel reservations and online banking.
Disruptive Technology and Radical Innovation in Business
Disruptive technology plays an integral role in the progression of incremental, disruptive and radical innovation in every industry, spurring the creation of new tools that can enhance business processes. When disruptive innovation leads to transformative change in business models and operations, it becomes radical innovation.
Unlike small companies or startups, incumbent companies tend to focus on their most demanding customers and don’t have the flexibility to adapt quickly to shifting needs and disruptive technologies. On the other hand, small companies can target overlooked customers and gain momentum as they leverage disruptions and explore new markets.
Another differentiating factor is that large companies focus on improving efficiency and may not prioritize adopting disruptive technologies. Conversely, some risk-taking companies recognize the potential upside of disruptive technology and may more readily choose to incorporate it into their business processes.
Companies inclined to take risks are usually startups or companies with intentionally agile business models. Some of the world’s biggest companies initially found success by embracing disruption and capitalizing on it to drive radical innovation. As a result, they created a paradigm shift in the market and gained a distinct competitive edge within that transformed business landscape.
What Makes a Disruptive Technology Successful?
Technologies are not necessarily disruptive on their own. Change happens when a company or industry adopts a technology to cater to a specific customer in their value chain. Such companies pay attention to technology as well as consumer behaviors and expectations.
Given the ubiquity of mobile apps, for example, many startups create business models using technology as a foundation and a user’s need as the driving force. But before companies adopt a disruptive technology, they should first determine whether it is a good fit for their business model.
A few factors enable the success of a disruptive innovation and its underlying technology. According to tech writer Naresh Sekar, the following factors are critical to its success.
- Technology triggers: An innovation or invention that makes a product affordable and accessible to a wider population
- Business model innovation and market fit: A business model that creates and pairs disruptive technology with a specific market segment — a target audience that is supportive of and open to participating in the technology’s ongoing iteration
- Ecosystem integration: A supportive ecosystem or network in which suppliers, distributors and customers support and benefit from the disruptive technology prospering
Examples of Disruptive Technology in Business Applications
Disruptive technology comes in many forms and impacts organizations, markets, individuals or any combination thereof. The following are examples of companies that leveraged technological disruptions to bring about radical innovation in the business world:
Amazon
Multinational company Amazon is a winner when it comes to disruptive technology. The online conglomerate used e-commerce to shake up the entire retail industry. With a few clicks, consumers can order products from Amazon at significantly lower prices than most competitors.
By leveraging its e-commerce model and unique warehouse network, Amazon went on to disrupt other industries including grocery markets, pharmacies and bookstores. With Amazon Web Services, the company also became a dominant player in the cloud computing industry. One of Amazon’s biggest disruptive innovations is the voice-activated virtual assistant Alexa, which has changed the way people interact with technology.
Apple
Another example of disruptive innovation is how Apple brought together different technologies and a successful business model to introduce the iPod to consumers in 2001. Apple successfully balanced the high price of its hardware and software with the convenience, accessibility and low-cost of iTunes music for consumers.
Decades before, Apple disrupted the computing world and continues to do so with innovations in computers, mobile devices and wearable technologies. Apple’s focus on user interface and device ecosystems enables its dominance in several technology market segments. Apple’s ability to successfully disrupt lies in its advanced technologies and applications as well as its unwavering focus on how consumers connect and interface with technology.
Uber
Uber, an app that allows people to order a private or shared ride, significantly disrupted the taxicab industry. Uber not only changed the world of transportation, it also gave rise to the “sharing” economy. This economic model centers around person-to-person activities involving acquiring, providing or sharing access to services. The success of Uber’s friendly online platform, as well as the rise of startups that use the “sharing” economy, are examples of how disturbance of the status quo can allow radical innovation to drive systemic change in the marketplace.
Emerging Technology Disrupters
Beyond the internet, numerous technological innovations are transforming businesses across industries. These disruptions are often rooted in three interrelated technologies: big data, analytics and artificial intelligence.
Big data is the result of increased amounts of available data generated due to the rise of the internet and connected technologies. Businesses can collect massive amounts of data — due to advancements in computing power, data science and technological innovation — and analyze that data to draw insight. Concurrently, the evolution of predictive analytics enables businesses to incorporate data-driven insights into decision-making, problem-solving, strategic planning and more.
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and numerous AI-driven technologies underpins advancements in many other technologies. The impact of AI technologies like machine learning, neural networks, natural language processing, large language models and generative AI is so profound that many consider the modern era to be the age of AI or the “Intelligence Age.”
Tech companies are integrating ChatGPT and similar generative AI applications into virtual assistants, customer service, search engines, content creation, enterprise-level business information systems and more. Advancements in AI are poised to radically disrupt and reshape business processes for the foreseeable future.
Explore Disruptive Technologies and Their Applications in an Online CIS Program
Disruption and its potential to bring about true innovation is hard to predict. Change — regardless of the uncertainty of a technology’s life cycle — impacts businesses as well as the quality of life for people. As we enter the age of intelligence, disruptive technologies are bound to keep pushing companies out of their comfort zone and into a landscape of innovation.
CIS professionals must be comfortable with new technologies and capable of leveraging them to achieve desired business outcomes. With its in-depth coursework, Florida Tech’s online CIS program equips professionals with highly valued skills and expertise so they can qualify for a range of in-demand positions in the technology field.
Learn more about the online BA in Business Administration – Computer Information Systems program from Florida Institute of Technology.
