Ways you can use technology to stay ahead of the curve

Businesses must continually think of how to provide better, faster, and cheaper. It calls for continuous interrogation of the value chain and surrounding ecosystems to ensure a strong pulse on the fundamentals while experimenting with new tools and ways of work. Regardless of the industry, technology plays a pivotal role as an enabler across various sectors. Here are four key takeaways that should be part of any strategic conversation.

Shorten time-to-market

All sectors are rife with competition. Speed and agility are key to staying ahead. Most businesses have a system running production, operations, sales, logistics, customer service et al. The insight here is to digitalise following best practices. What is happening on the infrastructure side that could help you run better or more efficiently? What connected hardware can you explore to enable a pain-free production floor? What can remove friction in your customer communications across the sales cycle? You can surface best practices from sector reports and peer reviews from relevant communities.

Insights from Smart Analytics

Acquisition of data and its use is at the forefront of competitive advantage. With tighter regulations governing its collection and utility, data can quickly provide an extensive moat. However, the organisation needs to understand it and put it to good use. Affordable access to tools that use artificial intelligence and machine learning to surface insights means no organisation should be running on uninformed hunches, whether optimising a product or service already in the market or cooking up a new one.

Scale Smart

While it is important not to over-optimise infrastructure and service costs at the onset, smart scalability is key. Applying the best practices mentioned earlier is prudent particularly when dealing with foreign currency for infrastructure and service costs and local currency for other operational aspects. Leveraging cloud options, such as going serverless, and consulting with professionals to ensure right sizing, helps in building with a bias toward success.

Partner Right

Whose customer is it anyway? We are all in competition for a slice of wallet or mindshare. Deliberate and well-thought-out partnerships can be the unfair advantage you need in a commoditised space. Partnerships can drive discovery and distribution, unlock preferential pricing or service credits, technical assistance, and even direct business. Innovation is a journey, not a destination.

Remember, the goal is not just to innovate, but to do so effectively and sustainably. Any edge you can gain can determine between staying in the game or heading off to the dead pool.

Njihia is the head of business and partnerships at Safiri Express. [email protected]