Balancing Digital Innovation and Risk | CSO Online
As today’s businesses rapidly innovate to meet higher levels of employee and customer expectations, what types of challenges are they facing?
That was the question we posed to the IDG Influencer Network, a community of industry analysts, IT professionals, and journalists who contribute their knowledge and expertise to the broader IDG community. Here are some key takeaways from their responses.
“Innovation can be disruptive,” according to Elitsa Krumova (@Eli_Krumova), tech influencer. It includes risks, she adds, “such as temporary or more permanent instability, higher expenses, and problematic scheduling. Sometimes innovation is hard to manage and foresee, and it requires a high level of expertise. There are also cybersecurity risks.”
Technological challenges
Innovation faces internal roadblocks to technology, leadership, and processes, according to the IDG influencers.
“A key challenge for many businesses lies in developing capabilities that bridge the physical and digital worlds, including telemedicine, smart cities, autonomous vehicles, and personalized retail experiences that utilize AR/VR technologies,” says Isaac Sacolick (@nyike), president of StarCIO and digital transformation leader and influencer. “These are no longer emerging technologies, and business leaders must seek the talent, partners, and platforms that accelerate leveraging these innovations.”
“Poor processes and outdated systems can trigger a tidal wave of bad reviews and churn, something that, once it has started, is difficult to reverse. It’s vital that brands seek to engage and excite their customer base at all times,” says Sridhar Iyengar, managing director at Zoho Europe (@isridhar).
Yet it’s challenging to develop streamlined processes so customers can perform simple actions without hitting dead ends, adds Matt Turner (@matt_turner_nyc), director of Industry Strategy at Alation. The key, he says, is simpler security and delivering the elusive customer 360 view.
“This starts with data: data organization, to integrate data across every touchpoint, and data governance, to make sure that data can actually be used,” he says. “Only then can you simplify workflows.”
In the end, Turner says, this data-driven approach is competitive. “The drive for innovation used to be competitive. If someone has a chatbot, we all need a chatbot. But with a data- and purpose-driven approach, you can actually apply innovation to simply make things easier … for both the customer and the service provider.”
IDG Influencers also cite leadership challenges to innovation:
“Technology is evolving so fast these days,” says Will Kelly (@willkelly), technical marketing manager. “I’ve seen technology leave people at all levels behind, including executive decision makers. That can hamper innovation, because some insecure executives might be dismissive of the innovation because it goes against the way things have always been done.”
Steps toward an innovative culture
Given the multiple challenges at play for companies when it comes to innovating, Krumova says, “IT leaders must be visionaries who are able to have an overview of the risks associated with innovation and encompass all aspects of the business.”
And that vision must embrace employees’ roles, says Frank Cutitta (@fcutitta), CEO and founder, HealthTech Decisions Lab. “Encouraging and rewarding the workforce for taking creative risks—many times driven by customer feedback—results in higher employee satisfaction and a feeling for being a part of grassroots innovation and intrapreneurship.”
“Transformative thinking and doing are table stakes in today’s economy,” says Gene De Libero (@GeneDeLibero), chief strategy officer at GeekHive.com, “especially when connecting with digitally savvy consumers who move faster than the brands competing for their attention and engagement.”
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