In today’s business world, we hear the terms communication and collaboration a lot. We often hear them mentioned together, and sometimes even interchangeably. But do they really mean the same thing?

An ancient Chinese proverb states, “May you live in interesting times.” Some believe this to be a blessing, while others believe this is a curse. But regardless of your interpretation, we can all agree that we do indeed live in interesting times.

Twenty years is a long time to be in business, especially in an industry that's seen such rapid change. Think back to 20 years ago, in 1996. How old were you? What were you doing and wearing? Your favorite movies, artists, etc. Now think about today. How have things changed? We recently asked all of our staff to submit pictures of themselves from 1996 and let’s just say the transformations are nothing short of dramatic, some entertaining.

What do you think of when you hear the word “containers”? Do you think of big cargo ships full of containers crossing the ocean, moving goods to and from ports around the world? Each one of those containers are carrying goods of some sort. They may be carrying the newest 4K TV or other new technology, or they could just be carrying boxes full of clothes. No matter what they're carrying they are pulled off the ship one by one and placed on a trailer chassis, latched in, and moved to a holding spot or to their final destination.

Practice makes perfect. There’s no greater example of this than the Olympics, where athletes like Simone Biles spent countless hours practicing to execute their craft perfectly. But even Simone Biles, who is arguably the greatest gymnast, didn’t receive a single perfect score and faltered on the balance beam. That’s because the phrase, no matter how motivating, is misleading.

In today’s increasingly competitive business landscape, an organization’s ability to quickly and efficiently meet and exceed customer expectations is essential. And yet few businesses today have the ability to gather useful business intelligence about customer behaviors and consumption patterns. Whether the business is a retail store, automobile dealership, or healthcare provider network, enabled business intelligence allows organizations to gather and analyze relevant data so they can engage with clients with the right information at the right time – a key to survival in the digital age.