Aussie tech leaders are no strangers to innovation and disruption. As is well known around the globe, Australians are responsible for creating companies like AfterPay, Atlassian, Campaign Manager, Canva and many other successful start-ups.
In the face of ambiguity, constantly evolving ideas and minimal external funding, start-ups in Australia have produced phenomenal results. Key to this has been the fact that start-ups have fewer hoops to jump through internally, less stringent regulation, an open-minded team working towards a common goal and an inside-out approach to innovation and disruption.
Established global enterprises that have survived disruption and continue to flourish have one thing in common; the determination to stay relevant by adopting the mantra of a start-up – pushing the envelope and taking high risks at speed. Organisations such as ADP, Cemex, and the Kraft Heinz Company, who are all IBM clients and have been around for multiple decades, have utilised the IBM Garage Methodology to better navigate digital disruptions over time and reinvented their business models and go to market approach.
To ensure enterprises can deliver to the increased expectations of consumers today, it is essential they begin to operate with a start-up mentality. One way a business can expand and leverage a start-up frame of mind is by transitioning to a cognitive enterprise and integrating a more collaborative way of working.
Reinventing as cognitive enterprise
The cross-section of technology, social media and governance offers a unique challenge to almost all businesses. Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, automation, Internet of Things and blockchain have become less of an individual solution and more a part of the larger evolution.
This amalgamation, known as a cognitive enterprise, can be outlined in seven ways:
- create platforms to unleash Digital Darwinism
- leverage the incumbent advantage in data
- architect your business for a change
- redesign company workflows around AI
- get agile, change fast and build things
- reinvent your workforce to ignite talent
- win with trust and security.
Collaboration is critical
By implementing best in practice start-up techniques and agile principles called the “IBM Garage” Methodology, businesses can drive a cultural evolution and instil the start-up mentality.
IBM Garage allows businesses to workshop solution that will have the greatest impact on customers and envision a new or better way to achieve these goals. Ultimately, collaboration and a start-up approach can lead to a more efficient way of operating and a holistically more innovative culture across the organisation.
For instance, if a global restaurant chain wanted to promote a new type of hamburger and track its success in different markets, it would not just create awareness by launching a series of advertisements but through designing a 360-degree view into everything from a mobile app, to an ordering platform through to tracking customer feedback and measuring conversion rates.
Keeping up with the competition
How businesses use technology has evolved immensely over the past decade and it looks unlikely to be slowing down anytime soon. Enterprises are now acknowledging that competition can come from anywhere – from established businesses looking to expand their revenue streams to start-ups looking to disrupt the status quo. Lengthy approval processes, red tape and being risk-averse are no longer acceptable reasons for failing to address customer expectations and declining customer loyalty. Large businesses must be able to provide world-class experiences, deliver growth rates and the cutting-edge innovation of a start-up.
Doug Robinson, Managing Partner for Global Business Services, IBM Australia and New Zealand
