Commoditisation is a big word these days in the Service Provider business. The value of our services is being depreciated as our customers are exposed to growing choices offering comparable products. In this borderless economy, competition can come from the most unexpected sources. How are you using technology to give your customers a better experience? A number of ways technology changes the way we do things we do were showcased in the recent Cisco Live events. How would you put those to good use in your businesses?

Every morning when I wake up, the first thing that I touch is my mobile phone. Living ina city with four seasons in a day like Melbourne, it is prudent to check on the weather before you leave the house. And to think about it again, the last thing that I would normally do before I go to bed is also to look at my phone -to have a last look at my schedule for tomorrow and do any necessary last minute planning.

Technology is in every part of our lives. It is there each time we look up the latest news, check on arrival times of busses and trains, pay our bills online or shop around for a better home loan. In fact, technology is a key connector of businesses to their customers.

If you stopped to think about it a little, technology is in fact involved in every part of a consumer's purchasing process, from researching available options, deciding between products to making the purchase itself and paying for it. While we are at this, companies like Google are using analytics to target their products more effectively to their prospects and uncover new business opportunities. Therein lies the opportunity -companies can use technology to significantly get ahead in their business. And they should.

Chuck Robbins, Cisco's SVP of Worldwide Sales, said a couple weeks ago in Cisco Live Melbourne 2015 "One of the thoughts on almost every CEO's mind is how technology defines his strategy, or how technology enables his strategy, or how technology differentiates his strategy".

How are you using technology today to differentiate yourselves? Let us know in the comments below... or tweet us @CiscoSP360 with your questions!