Digital Transformation
Going Digital
5 Things Trini companies need to consider as they embrace the digital landscape
Changing the way you do business is never easy and requires careful consideration. Saying a business needs a website or mobile app to remain competitive is ancient advice. Based on my experience working with various companies I’ve compiled a list of 5 things Trini businesses need to consider as they embrace the digital world.
1. Availability of Talent
Stripe, a U.S based software company for accepting payments and managing online businesses, reported in a recent survey:
“Senior executives believe that the lack of developer talent is one of the biggest potential threats to their growth.”
This belief comes from the fact that the demand for software is much higher than the supply of software developers. Companies with huge budgets will be offering handsome salaries for developer talent making it harder for a smaller company to compete with financial compensation. However, a company without the money to get into a bidding contest can explore offering meaningful work. To be clear I’m not suggesting free work!
What I am saying is, developers have options and money is a factor but it ain’t all about the money. Many of my peers have taken salary cuts, sometimes as much as 50%, to work for a company where they felt their work was meaningful and had a bigger purpose.
2. Find a Partner Not a Vendor
Businesses need time to grow and while technology can drive your business to greater success it also needs time to mature. Thus, forming long term relationships with your developers taking them on as partners to the business will be more beneficial than hiring a freelancer or agency as a vendor that will simply provide you a service and go. As mentioned above talent is in demand but talent can also be developed. Investing in a junior developer with the right mindset can do wonders in the long run for your business.
3. Analyzing Customer Data
A key ingredient in any digital strategy is understanding customer behaviors to sell to them more effectively and create an overall better customer experience.
For example Netflix produces a lot of original content and aims to make it accessible to the most viewers. Using historic data on content consumption across different languages and markets, Netflix is able to predict in which language and market a new series would be consumed the most. They then focus their efforts on producing the show for that language and market first.
“If a piece of content is more popular in language A than language B, we may sequence our efforts for A before B” — Netflix
In order to survive and compete in the digital space you must have a plan for gathering and analyzing your customer’s data.
4. Inflexible Technology Choices
“Your technology must be supportive of change!”
The world is dynamic, business requirements evolve and customers’ needs change. Your technology must be supportive of change! Too many times I have been on projects or in conversations where, due to poor technology choices the solution required starting from scratch. This is no bueno.
Success comes from iteration as customer feedback is received and new features are added. Additionally, your business rules might change, laws might change, your business model might change and having a system that can evolve alongside your business is important because starting from scratch every time is simply not feasible. Ideally you should hire a consultant with a track record to ask the important questions and guide conversations to building technology that will stand the test of time.
5. Doing Offline Online
It’s called digital transformation for a reason yet I see this many times; a company attempts to put their offline strategy online. Imagine if Netflix sold DVDs online offering the same product and service as a DVD store just through a website. Funny enough, Netflix did do this and had some success with it but as we know, it’s their video streaming service that transformed the company to where it is today. Depending on your industry and company, online strategies will vary. In order to find one that works companies must be willing to experiment, take risks and even encounter failure as they discover a solution that can scale and add more profit.
Bonus: Jumping to build an App
On many occasions I hear an executive go, “I think we need an app.” It’s like the shiny new thing everyone wants but, this expensive labor intensive app may not be what your company needs and can do more harm than good. Remember point number one, Availability of Talent, turns out there is even more of a shortage when you narrow down to native mobile app developers. Focus on improving customer experience, for example a system that sends a text message letting a customer know when their order is ready instead of you saying “Yuh could pass in 20mins” might significantly improve your customer’s experience. Building an app should never be a go to solution just for the sake of having one, think carefully about what problems you aim to solve and then explore two to three solutions before you choose one.
Conclusion
Adopting technology is all about learning and growth. As businesses in Trinidad & Tobago, or any part of the world, undergo a digital transformation I hope my consideration points can be helpful in some way. Don’t hesitate to message me on any social media platform for a conversation.
