To compete in today's marketplace, decision-makers must keep current with advancing technology trends. This includes identifying where their customers are "shopping," and ensuring that they have a presence in those worlds. There are a number of noteworthy advances that have impacted today's business strategy and how we interact with our customers:

Broadband Internet usage in the United States has increased drastically, from six percent of domestic Internet users in June 2000 to projections of well over 90 percent by 2010.
Cloud computing gives companies access to pay-per-use Internet technology services without requiring knowledge of, expertise with, or control over the infrastructure that supports them, yielding significant economies of scale.
PDAs and enhanced cell phones accommodate e-mail, mobile phone, text messaging, Internet faxing, web browsing, and related wireless information services.
Search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and more recently, Bing, increase potential company revenue generation; "to Google" is now a verb. We can instantly identify customer market demographics, competitive intelligence, and market trends.
Open source and free software continue to gain momentum.
Green IT initiatives are generating greater interest in both the consumer and regulatory arenas due to global-warming theory and the potential exhaustion of crude oil.
Blogs, portals and wikis have become electronic necessities for businesses to promote their knowledge management and customer interaction, and to sustain revenue growth.
Social networking allows customers to instantly "tweet" or "Facebook" friends and colleagues for the best deals in all products, including insurance. Agents are no longer the only source for insurance information. Agencies are fighting back by building information-rich web sites that provide industry knowledge and rapid customer response that enhance customer retention and capture new business.
Global Positioning System (GPS) is increasingly popular, especially in tracking items or people, and for use in cars. Some insurers are offering auto coverage based upon actual miles driven to determine premium rates.
Peer-to-peer technology use and Internet telephony and file-sharing enable real-time communication with buyers to share products and services.

Benefits of New Technology

Special Reports /

The Evolution of Business Technology

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