i3 - March/April 2019 - 44

Business

By Scott Steinberg

FO RWA R D ST R AT EG I E S

Staying Competitive in a
Connected Business World

1. Take a Long-Term View

Think how data can be applied to support your firm.
Could another department or business venture
benefit from the information you're capturing? When crafting an IT infrastructure
and data management strategy, consider how data can be applied to
achieve larger goals instead of just
immediate objectives. Build IT
support systems with the capability to tap into external
sources of information (e.g.
third-party plug-ins or information feeds) as well. It's
imperative to craft data
management solutions that
successfully capture and
leverage information in myriad ways.

2. Get Your
Team Onboard
Individuals in an enterprise
with different priorities are
often involved in making IT
decisions. To reconcile these disparities get all stakeholders
involved in the process and promote
teamwork. Creating cross-functional
teams and sharing information gives you
deeper insights into your organization's
needs, which will help you focus on completing
a common goal.

MARCH/APRIL 2019

3. Start with the End in Mind

Businesses often build new high-tech
solutions first, then try to figure out
what IT and data management needs to
support these ventures. Instead, determine what resources are needed before
crafting new apps, products or services.
Ask: Have I considered its characteristics and functions, and crafted a data
and IT infrastructure that aligns with its
needs? Also, remember that solutions
you create will generate data and need
to scale as time passes.

4. Iterate, Don't Reinvent

Many companies start with an established base of data management and IT
tools. Rather than starting from scratch,
look for ways to build upon them, slowly
rolling out new business functionalities.
You might start by adding an online
storefront to your website before implementing a complete end-to-end inventory management system. Similarly, you
might provide targeted promotions to
customers before launching marketing
tools with personalized offers.

5. Embrace the New Normal

IT infrastructures that offer endless
uptime, flexible blueprints and unlimited growth are the gold standard. Any
framework you implement should
adhere to specific guidelines. All should
be contextual - able to use data
insights to provide personalized interactions to users without hiccups.
Similarly, any platforms you implement
should be based upon distributed
operating architectures to ensure
always-on, high-speed performance, so
interactions happen in real-time. All
solutions should be easy to update and
expand with your business.

The more you plan around similar
concepts, the better your business
will be able to compete.

I T I S I N N O VAT I O N

Dieter Spannknebel/Getty Images

ello Internet of Everything. With more than seven
billion devices connected online, according to IoT
Analytics, and 2.5 quintillion bytes of data generated
every day, how can your organization stay competitive when
customers are providing real-time feedback? The answer:
make data-driven design and flexible IT infrastructures the
cornerstone of your business strategy. With the growing
advent of 5G, automation and robotics (major themes at CES),
learning to effectively capture, analyze and capitalize on data
in real-time is vital to success. Leaders should consider the following strategies to function more adroitly.

i3 - March/April 2019

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