We are in the “fourth industrial revolution” where the forces of digital disruption deeply affect businesses of every size and in every industry. It’s an era where all parts of the enterprise function using software, SaaS, and custom apps. More than ever, consumers have lofty expectations and are willing to shop around. And if that wasn’t enough, the barriers to entry for each industry have evaporated. Startups everywhere are disrupting all types of products from financial services to crowd‐sourced insurance to customizable health care to unique shopping experiences. A new idea can be built in a hackathon and developed in the garage using major building blocks like unlimited cloud compute power, free dev tools, open APIs, and open source components. These new entrants build fast, move fast, and continue to educate consumers on the type of experience they should be getting. Consumers, employees and partners now expect everything to be on demand and fully connected.
