Connecticut’s capital city appears to be on the brink of an economic reinvigoration through a combination of public and private efforts aimed at attracting entrepreneurs to Hartford.
Last fall, the New York Times reported on how Hartford is making this push, such as with funding from the state’s Innovation Places program, which is trying to jumpstart areas that can foster entrepreneurship. Plus, Hartford is seeing some noteworthy commercial real estate developments such as a large coworking space that wants to attract robotics companies.
While these developments pick up steam, existing companies throughout Connecticut can also find ways to innovate and keep up with startups by becoming more tech-driven.
Get on Board with SMAC-IT
Even though tech is often viewed as its own industry, sector lines are blurring as many different types of companies are taking on more of a tech focus and adjusting their business models accordingly. From startup financial firms to established food companies, companies are adapting to new ways to reach customers and meet their changing habits.
Businesses are trying to keep up with the rise of technology in the categories of social, mobile, analytics, cloud and the internet of things (SMAC-IT). While it may just seem like a buzzword, SMAC-IT represents how companies can continue to innovate, even if they’re not specifically in the tech industry.
Don’t Let Legacy Get in the Way
Startups tend to be comfortable adopting SMAC-IT technologies, because they don’t have legacy systems getting in the way. For example, an insurance company might have a lot of resources tied up in physical offices around the country, as opposed to a startup that can build its business with a mobile platform in mind.
However, companies do need to be cognizant of large-scale changes, such as how many facets of retail have shifted to e-commerce. Those that ignore these shifts risk a downturn in business.
The good news is that many SMAC-IT technologies are easy to implement and can help businesses quickly start improving profitability.
For example, cloud storage technologies can be set up quickly and have a low monthly fee, which reduces the need for upfront investment while still potentially being cheaper in the long-term than buying physical storage devices.
Sparking Innovation
Simply utilizing the cloud does not necessarily make a company more innovative, but as businesses start to add SMAC-IT technologies, many of which intersect, they can make more creative, impactful changes.
In some cases, businesses can even leverage existing technologies rather than adding their own. By taking advantage of what’s already there, such as social and mobile technologies that allow consumers to interact with brands in real-time, businesses can create more interactive, engaging experiences with customers.
For example, a gym could ask customers to tweet what song they would like to hear, which on its own could boost customer satisfaction. Yet companies can go even further by applying analytics to the data they collect from these interactions. If the analytics indicate that customers want pop music in the morning and rock music in the evening, the gym could create promotions around this to attract new customers, such as offering a gym-version of happy hour with a name like “Lifting Heavy Metal.”
Businesses can also easily combine analytics, cloud and IoT technologies, such as with energy analytics software (EAS). Since it’s cloud-based, EAS can quickly be added to any building without having to significant on-site equipment, but if an organization wants to go further, it can integrate EAS with IoT devices to improve energy management and building automation, such as with sensors that trigger lights based on whether anyone is in a room or identifying the most energy efficient hours to operate.
Beyond these intelligent energy solutions, though, companies can utilize EAS insights to become more innovative.
For example, finance companies may not realize how much they spend on energy to power their computers, but once they realize this due to their cloud-based energy analytics, they could replace monitors with augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR) screens. While this technology is still in its early stages, companies can start to find ways to improve employee and/or customer experience with it, such as by providing more immersive data visualizations of portfolios that are both fun and informative.
There are many ways companies can utilize tech to improve their business, so it’s important for CT businesses to look for ways to adapt now so that they can take part in the reinvigoration of CT’s economy such as in Hartford, rather than watching from the sidelines.
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We’re located centrally, not far from New London; come to our office and speak with one of our energy consultants about using analytics to change energy costs into a tool you can leverage to significantly improve your business’ efficiency.