In the list of Fortune 500 companies in 2000, 52% have either gone bankrupt, been acquired or ceased to exist.

Neil Sholay, senior director of products and industries, EMEA at Oracle, says  that in most cases, this has happened owing to digital disruption of their existing business model.

Digital disruption is the use of a new technology, or technology-based business model, to affect an existing business or product.

“Probably the most famous examples are when Netflix entered the video streaming market and destroyed Blockbuster in the process, or when Uber entered the taxi market globally and severely affected local providers,” Sholay tells Strategic Risk.

Game changers

Sholay warns that Amazon Dash, the internet retailer’s new ordering technology, could be a game changer for many corporations.

“This hasn’t yet launched, but it looks as though it could be huge,” he says. “The technology resembles a little microphone, and it enables users to scan a grocery item in their home—say a can of beans needs replacing—or even talk to it and order whatever is missing immediately. It’s turning the entire model of grocery shopping on its head because instead of getting a big shop in, products are delivered as and when required, all the time.”

He also names the use of data, drones, robotics or identity management as other potential game changers that companies need to be aware of and how they could affect their business sector.

He notes that it is not just consumer-focused brands that need to be aware of changes.

“Siemens, Bosch and many other manufacturers have invested heavily in big data, robotics and technology in general because they have seen that not only can new technology make their businesses run better, it can also really compress the amount of time it takes them to get a product to market.”

According to new research by MIT and CAT, about 44% of businesses are using digital to transform their customer experience offering, about 30% are using it for operations and 26% for short order innovation, which is genuine ‘disruption’.

“We are at the stage where every business is now being affected by technology,” says Sholay.