Survival of the fittest - rise of the dot coms

It’s true, shift happens! Today’s business environment is ruthless and ever changing – businesses can’t thrive without collaboration, and nowadays won’t survive if they don’t adapt to technology.

On April 30^th, PlantMiner in conjunction with Vertical Matters, held a ‘Competitive Advantages with Technology’ networking event that raised some interesting questions about the role of collaboration and technology in our industry.

We had three speakers at the event: Grant Peden of the Department of Industry and Science, Marcus Van Enk of Vertical Matters and PlantMiner’s own Michael Trusler.

It’s safe to say their insights are worth sharing … so here's Part 1 of our 'Competitive Advantages in Techonology' wrap up.

Competitive advantages in technology

Marcus Van Enk, a self-confessed tech junky with 20 years experience in the Civil Construction sector, argues ‘there has never been a bigger force for change than technology’, and we couldn’t agree more.

Can you think of a business that does not engage technology on a day-to-day basis?

From facial recognition at the airport to point-of-sale screens at our local bakeries, technology is advancing so rapidly that the adapt or die mentality is stronger than ever.

While 7 minutes long, this video hits the nail on the head with how much technology has changed our daily lives, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

Movers, shakers, and technology makers

Innovation in technology has completely revolutionised society, including the regulation and deregulation of laws.

• Cyber Threats, Privacy, Storage: Online data now requires cyber threat and privacy solutions while the sheer amount of content has given rise to the cloud, SAAS, file saving technology
• Driverless cars: Google already has these in production, and has said that they hope to have them commercialised within the next year! They’ve done multiple tests on these cars and the only crashes or incidents that occurred were due to other drivers (not the driverless cars!). Think about what this will mean for Insurance companies and Government revenue from fines.
• Near Field Communication: Tap to pay cards now regulate our public transport systems and expedite the way we shop (queuing to see a bank teller and even the ATM is left in pay pass’s wake)

BLS reported that 70% of the nation’s productivity gains came from technology. It’s these advances in communication combined with the evolution of the IT industry that has made it possible for people to do business throughout the world in real time. Innovation improves our lifestyle, both personal and business, by allowing technology to reduce complications and enrich possibilities. The leaps we’ve made to simplify our daily processes seem limitless.

Disruptive or competitive?

Dot com pioneers that were once seen as industry disrupters are now some of the biggest success stories in the Aussie internet era.

Realestate.com.au is our point of call for real estate listings, CarSales.com.au is how we buy/sell our cars and Wotif.com is our specialist in online accommodation. These companies are considered some of the greatest digital investments ever made in Australia and are even credited with the fall of print media giant, Fairfax.

These success stories all have one common thread – they each exist to help simplify a process. Whether it's buying a house, car or booking a weekend away, these once disruptive aggregators are now revenue driving.

We operate to make the process easier

PlantMiner is changing and simplifying the decades old searching habits of project managers, site foreman, estimators and DIY searchers looking for plant and equipment hire.

The need to spend hours searching for apples-to-apples plant and equipment hire quotes can be done in a matter of minutes (rather than days) by simply telling us what you need, then receiving quotes back from hire companies servicing your project location.

In the construction sector, technology hasn’t always been readily embraced, but with the rise of cloud computing and mobile devices, it’s enabling businesses of all sizes to manage their information more efficiently. So if keywords for any brand these days are fast, free, easy and efficient - how many dings would your business buzz?

Stay tuned for part two which will look at the value of collaboration.