The Drivers of Digital Transformation by Ferri Abolhassan

Author:Ferri Abolhassan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

6.1.3 New Models of Collaboration: Team-Based Customer Acquisition

In the process of reaching and impressing customers – and ideally securing their long-term loyalty – omni-channel integration can only take you so far, however. Outstanding agility in the market also requires the pooling of resources. In the “old world,” customers were used to choosing between just a handful of options. Market power was shared between monopolists and well-established companies. Today, however, the global economy means products from around the world are only a click away. And cross-border business is a self-evident strategy. The erstwhile office phone – communication channel #1 for decades – has long since been supplanted by sophisticated, cloud-based infrastructure such as telepresence systems and high-availability lines, carrying unimaginable quantities of data. While companies source hardware, software and services from multiple manufacturers, IT providers offer a single-source model. That’s the cloud concept. And this concept highlights a very important fact: Just because an IT company can provide the fastest network doesn’t necessarily mean that it develops state-of-the-art hardware and software or knows the right answer to specific conditions that apply in other countries. Others might be better equipped to do so. Yet together, everyone can be the best. Partnerships are therefore the be-all and end-all in the world of digital because a truly integrated solution that offers the customer real value needs teamwork and a pooling of resources. IT service providers also need to allow for partner models in their corporate strategies – and with IT manufacturers and newly formed startups alike. Only then will they be able to offer their customers sound, reliable and novel solutions. This starts with the software and hardware in the data center and extends to custom development work with non-sector customer businesses. In the Connected Car model, for example, IT providers themselves become parts suppliers – and are likely to be working alongside other competitors. Odd? Not at all: Since digital models require us to jettison traditional ideas about the competition.

The upshot is that boundaries between companies and specific sectors are now increasingly blurred. The cloud concept is gaining ground in each and every industry, and partnering must become an integral part of every future corporate strategy – practiced not merely at IT service providers, but with them. Companies are picking up on this point: In one survey, over 80 percent of companies asked agreed that systematic implementation of the digital transformation is possible only in tandem with professional partners (cf. Crisp Research 2015). Ultimately, the goal here is to satisfy the most demanding technological requirements while complying with stringent data protection regulations – while simultaneously developing and further extending core competencies. This goes further than software developers partnering with hardware manufacturers to offer users a better IT solution: Beverage producers are also teaming up with vending machine makers, who in turn bring IT providers on board, to ensure that customers can always be served the right drink in the right location. The goal is to identify personal preferences as soon as possible – the Holy Grail is to do so before the preference is even stated.

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