Wimbledon, World Cup and more: How sports technology can benefit businesses

"It's not about people coming through the gates but brand perception is important on every platform. We need to provide new TV graphics and use the commentators to bring the tournament to life."

IBM is also responsible for analysing social data at the tournament. A phone app and initiative called Hill vs. World allows those watching in the venue and those viewing on Henman Hill or Murray Mound to communicate via a Q&A interface.

The tech giant will beam questions onto the big screen at Henman Hill and then spectators inside the venue and the social world can tweet responses.

This data will be analysed by Wimbledon's social control centre to give them a better understanding of how to tune and tailor content on the Wimbledon website and the app.

Seddon explained how the technology has real parallels with a business' customer experience. Just as Wimbledon needs to show the graphics on a TV screen and on the website by transporting data to digital interfaces, businesses need to provide a form of data to a customer and bring it to life in an easy-to-digest format.

For example, in Malaysia, IBM is working with telecommunications provider Cellcom who couldn't give a personalised experience to its customers, despite having a huge database of information about each one. IBM researched into the data and analytics Cellcom had and was able to deliver a tailored experiences to customers as a result.

The sporting world vs. the business world

It would appear that sport and business have more parallels than you would first think. It's ultimately all about delivering an experience, whether to end users, customers or partbers. Technology is being used to ensure those experiences are the best they can be in terms of cost, efficiency and user satisfaction.

As our appetite for mobile devices and apps continues to grow, we will demand more immersive experiences at work, home and play and look to businesses - whether sporting or otherwise - to meet and exceed our increased expectations.

Clare Hopping
Freelance writer

Clare is the founder of Blue Cactus Digital, a digital marketing company that helps ethical and sustainability-focused businesses grow their customer base.

Prior to becoming a marketer, Clare was a journalist, working at a range of mobile device-focused outlets including Know Your Mobile before moving into freelance life.

As a freelance writer, she drew on her expertise in mobility to write features and guides for ITPro, as well as regularly writing news stories on a wide range of topics.