Disruptive technology is a technology that changes the pace of innovation. You can have technology that is not disruptive; in most cases, it will be something that’s not new and has been seen or heard of before. However, in most cases, disruptive technology would be a groundbreaking innovation and something new and unique that gives birth to new standards.
Disruptive innovation is important because disruption is not the province of R&D. It is the province of entrepreneurs and business managers. Savvy technologists are crucial to success in the disruptive endeavor, but they must be the business leader to become disruptors, and the business leader is the central player.
There are way too many examples of simplified re-purposing of technology as a source of disruption for the technology to be viewed as the instigating factor.
This POV is added to help disruptive strategists focus on the aspects of their models that must be foregrounded to deliver the success they seek.
What are the best examples of disruptive innovations till now?
Here are some innovations that are in line up to make you wow.
- Cryptocurrencies – When we handle the currencies regularly, have you ever been taught that the money with high worth is where you can’t touch and feel but only visualize it. Yes, Satoshi made us pinch our skins to know whether it is a dream not to introduce Bitcoin.
- Smartphone – Have you ever imagined that you could reach any part of the world through a mini device that is the size of your palm. This innovation made people addicted to smartphones, which have become essential for a living.
- Google Search – I don’t know about that; let me google it. This is how to learn most unknowing concepts, from booking on Airbnb to learning about artificial intelligence, and Google serves all the learning materials to us in one search.
- Wikipedia – The next legendary innovation. I know something; let others know this; I will write – this idea paved the way for Wiki. The person who knows shares with others. This helped many students and scholars even lecture to know something or someone alive or dead (still living in Wikipedia).
- Work from home resolution- It’s funny how the pandemic made us work from home atmosphere, a tow in one task for everyone. A business wants to continue goals while settling down at home and work.
It is a great strategy working in favor of business with minimal office expense, and employees work harder to serve the work. While on the employee’s side, saving the traveling time and energy and giving those time to family or personnel. Covid-19 made every situation possible and ended an era of office space. Is it something we are not ready for?
Voice-activated service Are we seeing the end of an era of sitting on a laptop or phone trying to search for Google. More users are turning voice started services to find the services on google, for example, see the nearest pizza near me?
The google aunty helps to find the nearest pizza for you. The days are for digital marketers to create some exciting facts and stories about the world-changing.
These are some of the popular disruptive innovations which made us mind-blow with its
What is the most disruptive technology of all time?
- Fire – provided year-round heat and light. Scientists even theorize that by making various macromolecules more bioavailable, cooked foods may have been a critical driver in evolution.
- Written language – enabled the passing on of knowledge without first-hand experience. It helped the transition to mercantile economies.
- Steam engine – a key enabler of the industrial revolution that increased the rate of technological progress at least one order of magnitude.
- The internet – is the central cog driving the next big trend in advance of civilization: truly transparent globalization.
Advantages of a disruptive technology:
Disruptive innovation is a process for a particular situation when the incumbents face a dilemma that contradicts innovative business practices of serving the most profitable customers, preventing them from competing with the threat of a new entrant. There are criteria:
- The new entrant serves the low-margin, under-served, and non-consumption segments.
- The performance is sub-par compared to the incumbents.
- There is a performance gap in which the incumbent’s solution exceeds the existing market’s performance expectation.
- The cost of production is less than the incumbents affording the new entrant to earn a more significant profit margin at a lower price point.
- The incumbents choose to flee rather than fight as they prefer to let the low-value consumers go so they can focus on higher-value / more fabulous margin customers with high expectations.
- Over long periods (years and decades), the entrant’s performance improves to the point that it meets the needs of the existing customer base.
- The disrupters face new entrants who replicate the technology and drive down the price till all incumbents flee up-market and then push the margin down, so the entrants need to innovate to move upmarket to create the same margins again at a lower price than the incumbents (repeat)
- It must be disruptive to all. Christensen makes this very clear. The example he gives is that selling computers was disruptive to physical retailers though it was sustainable to the likes of Dell, so new entrants could not compete.
What is some disruptive technology seen in the future?
Covid-19 has affected and changed the worldwide economy, and it helped the technology movements advance and new product improvement in different businesses.
The Emerging technologies, as well as other existing advances, have driven how organizations have taken to progress and execute their digital transformation consistently.
Here are some of the Disruptive Technology Trends:
- 5G enhanced connectivity
- Edge computing
- Advertising in VR
- Ethical AI
- Drones and automation
- Internet of things
- AR glasses
Summary
Several career-making fields are available if you are interested in any of the technologies above. An example would be gaining a certification in Machine Learning and its relation to Artificial Intelligence. Maybe you are interested in learning more about cyber security.
In a world of disruptive innovation, most disruption lies in the evolution of customers’ behavior, interest, values, and expectations. If you want to learn more about it, Simplilearn online learning is the place to grab the best opportunities.