Zero Genie

The pace of technology and its impact on our lives is not slowing down. In this column, I would like to hold up three business events that illustrate, in my opinion, how much and how fast the business climate is changing.

The first is another data breach of a major corporation. In this case, the target company was Capital One. Its website describes the company as, “Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One offers a broad array of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients in the U.S., Canada and the UK.” Additionally it goes on to say that it is one of the top 10 banks in the United States based upon deposits.

The data breach exposed the information of more than 100 million people or approximately one-third of the United States’ population. I conducted a brief Internet search and the number of organizations large and small that have been “hacked” and the amount of our data exposed should cause you to wonder what to do. From what I have gathered, our best course of action is to take the data monitoring service when offered and to change your passwords.

The second topic that stood out for me was that Huawei, the Chinese tech giant with annual sales of reportedly more than $100 billion in 2018, had year-over-year growth in sales for the first half. This growth was in spite of a boycott by the United States and warnings to our allies of potential security issues with some aspects of the firm’s network products.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with a Chinese business-oriented high school student in a classroom environment. I asked him about IBM. His response was, “What is IBM?” Notwithstanding its change in business strategy from its past, I still thought IBM was a global household name. That student’s comment and the growth of Huawei offer a framework for the current global business landscape. We are not in Kansas anymore.

My niece plays Fortnite. I asked her to show me the game. I felt it was pretty interesting and a fun game, as games go.

Last weekend, a 16-year-old won the first Fortnite World Cup. The total prize money was a reported $30 million dollars with the champion pocketing $3 million dollars! The final event was viewed by an estimated two million live viewers. When interviewed, the winner stated the he spends about six hours a day “playing” Fortnite. That level of commitment sounds like any other endeavor that one day might provide one with a $3 million dollar payday.

To put a little more sauce on this pasta, there is a collegiate varsity e-sports conference with teams and coaches. Additionally, there are arenas for the competitions on campuses across the country. Some colleges view their gaming arenas as recruiting benefits just as rock climbing walls were a few years back. You combine this with the estimated more than $100 billion annual market for gaming and where the gaming world goes next is anyone’s guess.

Capital One, Huawei and Fortnite: three international examples of the impact that technology is having on our lives.

Cornell Wright is an author, trainer, consultant and an Executive Coach at The Parker Wright Group Inc. in Stratford. The firm assists clients to increase their market share by improved customer service. He can be reached at 203-377-4226 or cornell@parkerwrightgroup.com.