We’ve talked for years about the “disruptive” nature of the systems integration world, but futurist Nicholas Webb told 380 NSCA Business and Leadership Conference attendees that’s not enough to keep them safe from competition.
“Your industry is being hacked,” Webb told the group in his executive power hour presentation, “Building a Future-Ready Business.”
“This hyperconnected, uber-competitive market means there’s a need for new tools. Your future has a lot to do with the anticipation of stuff,” says Webb. For those who are leading their pitches with technology, Webb says customers don’t really care. “Systems integration is out. Value integration is in.”
“We think so much about the bright, shiny object, but the real value is in creating touch points. Social analytics allows us to learn more about our customers and create the experiences they want,” he says.
Webb outlined what he calls a range of innovation value that starts with incremental (meaning slow changes) to landmark to breakthrough to disruptive. Disruptive innovation is by far the most risky but comes with the most potential reward too, says Webb.
“Most organizations aren’t innovative because they never really start,” he says. “In order to invent stuff, you have to be willing to fail.”
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He expects about two-thirds of integration will soon be done outside the enterprise firewall.
“Customers want hyperconnectivity, meaning they want to be able to get any content anywhere at any time,” says Webb. He breaks customers into four main groups: I want to know, I want to go, I want to do and I want to buy.
To achieve innovation success, companies should start with an honest assessment, create a road map with their desired destinations and develop a deployment strategy to get there. He points to six Cs integrators must deliver in their solutions: complete, customized, culture, collaborative, connected and customer-connected. (Notice none of these are cookie-cutter).
“When we collaborate, we can make any of our strategic dreams come true,” says Webb. He says there are four collaborative node types: stakeholders (employees); partners (strategic alliances); competitors (existing and potential); and customer (all types).
“You can’t give perfect transactions unless we understand who someone is,” says Webb. He outlined the customer experience design, which goes from pre-touch (before your company even knows a potential customer is researching you) to first touch to core touch (when your company adds layered and unexpected value) to last touch (what you leave them) to in-touch (when you build an authentic relationship and deliver value).
“The best innovation won’t be stuff,” says Webb. “It’ll be a way of creating exceptional experiences.” Companies will continue to emphasize solutions that give customers the power to be smart, mobile, analytical and the use cloud.
“Innovation is about paying attention to problems and doing something about them,” says Webb.
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