The 4th Industrial Revolution – Make the decision

I found a lot of inspiration in a very interesting book by Thomas L. Friedman called Thank You for being late – an optimist’s guide to thriving in the age of accelerations, Penguin 2016.

This fascinating book starts by giving the reader a short history of how microships (Moore’s Law & computing power), accessibility (smartphones & networks), big data (cloud computing) all grew into this unbelievable thing called the internet, or as Thomas refers to it, the “Supernova”. The book further pursue information flows, innovation and the 4th Industrial Revolution (4th IR), which got my attention even more as the matter is so relevant, specifically now that the SA Government has at last cottoned on to the importance of making South Africans active participants in the 4th IR.

In the following three weeks, I’ll be blogging my views and opinions on how this can be achieved and off-course, how our company and franchisee network can assist businesses to start participating.

But first, back to the book and just a short flashback on how Airbnb was started, it is such a beautiful story to show how some creative thinking, the internet, accessibility and cloud computing is making things happen…for who knows, maybe (or most probably) the next big thing is coming alive as we read this. The short version is two friends decided to offer people accommodation in their flat but only had air-mattresses to offer as beds. Because of the big shortage of accommodation in San Francisco (due to some big tech conference), they got some poor folks paying to sleep on these air-mattresses in their living room and there, Airbnb is born …

I believe companies can start participating in the 4th IR by starting with the very basics, which is to digitize, i.e. work towards minimising paperwork. Numerous companies still run their operations by using manual job cards, paper-based audit checklists and recapturing all the information into Excel. Those systems are unproductive and inefficient and in an age of cloud-based software solutions like @MobiWork and @Acumatica, a dinosaur.

Next thing is to get connected onto the internet and I don’t mean that only the bosses have the privilege of internet access. Internet access is becoming a necessity for any business, same as fuel is for a car. So, if a business doesn’t want to spend the money on fuel (data) or are scared that their employees will abuse the internet, their days are numbered. Full blown internet access, uncapped fibre preferably, can’t be avoided and if a business owner/ manager tries to, the business will disappear. Imagine when we get 5G!!! Augmented reality, virtual reality…it’s coming.

Decide to participate

Wrapping this up, we believe companies need to prepare and if they take an ostrich approach, accept the inevitable demise of their business. Participating in the 4IR is not difficult and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, it is simply a decision that must be taken by business owners, a mark that must be made, a box to tick.

Happy Voting Day – make the right decision

Regards

Ben

How to keep your business operating during load shedding

For any business owner, load shedding has become a serious challenge. Power cuts result in staff being unable to work because computers and networks don't work resulting in massive losses in productivity, which in most cases CAN'T BE RECOVERED.

We have a few practical solutions that companies can implement and we acknowledge the fact that it will result in money being spent, but the reality of continuous electricity cuts for the next 12 to 24 months will convince any business owner/manager to spend the money or risk closing his business.

The 5 things to do are:

1. Use LTE wi-fi routers as back-up to your fibre/adsl network (with back up UPS units)

2. Get laptops for your staff. The build in wi-fi router takes care of connectivity issues. Make your staff mobile and allow them to work from home. With the right systems, you can measure their productivity and efficiency in real-time.

3. Move your servers into the cloud. This way, if the electricity goes down, your LTE routers enable data transfer.

4. Use Cloud based software systems like MobiWork or Acumatica (ERP) to manage your business.

5. Call us or leave you details on the website.

Opportunities for the retrenched

I have in the last three months encountered three friends who have been retrenched or who is busy going through the process. These professionals all works at bluechip companies and most interesting, all are in the ICT sectors.

Seems like the ICT companies are cleaning house in order to comply to the BEE requirements that our SA Government is now starting to enforce though legal action. This is a sad reality and will affect all size businesses!

However as one door closes, new opportunities opens up. We believe that our Franchise offering is such an opportunity. People who have been operating in the ICT industry doing all sorts of things can now use their skills, knowledge and business network to setup their own Cloud based software reseller business.

Our franchise is affordable,scalable, provides an annuity income and can be operated from home and off-course, being a franchisee, one is in business for yourself, but not by yourself.

For more information, please visit https://www.caracalsolutions.co.za/

Ben