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Insights- Robin Pollock

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COVID-19 and 2021 opportunities

Lockdown and working from home given COVID-19 are a reality and will accelerate the move online with fundamental workplace changes. Unprecedented disruption and unprecedented opportunity. With cloud, multi-cloud, edge computing, machine learning and AI, what is important for building a successful technology platform in 2021?

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Digital strategy and motivation

The strategic necessity with COVID-19 and 80% of businesses are now moving online, up from 50% a year before, so what are the drivers in 2021 in the UK?

  1. Disruptive technologies and new market competitors
  2. The necessity for technology and business transformation
  3. Brexit, Geo-political, regulatory and legal requirements
  4. Cloud-based services for new ventures with the low entry cost. 
  5. Adding IP value in technology and people for the enterprise
  6. More dynamic agile businesses that respond quickly and grow
  7. Changing workplace, expectations, careers and home working

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Team building and agile development.

Hiring and career development are key to any success. Always hire the potential not for specific skills to enable growth and development as projects, technologies and businesses change. I favour small agile teams with different skills that bring together all end users with the development team and value small incremental deliveries that can adapt provide continuous improvement and adapt. Teams should be loosely coupled and given full responsibility and reward for success allowing for innovation, building trust and teamwork. The CTO's role is to set standards, architectural roadmap, and challenge to promote quality and reusability. LEGO-like set of building blocks can be reused for future requirements and grow IP and value in your enterprise. Teams of all ages and backgrounds with common goals cut bureaucracy costs and delays and promote ownership, quality and accountability. 

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Digital roadmap for success

Digitally mature businesses grow faster, so what is the roadmap?

  1. Vision – digital changes, new operating and business models 
  2. Competitive assessment – rivals or disruptive newcomers
  3. Prioritised list digital bets by strategy, capability, ability, return. 
  4. Gap analysis based on bets, capabilities and organisation.
  5. Roadmap – based on Digital Maturity Assessment
  6. CEO, Board with Enterprise agreement and commitment
  7. Repeat and continuously develop the given market and review.

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Bricks and mortar versus disruptive technology

COVID-19 will accelerate new disruptive innovation that creates a new market and value network that eventually disrupts an existing market, displacing established market-leading firms, products, and alliances. It is not the products that change necessarily, simply the established market where online innovation undermines existing patterns and benefits from scale, cost, and online convenience to challenge existing players. New start-ups benefit from the correct architecture and are nimble and agile. Still, all businesses are free to develop efficient processes and technologies using Cloud-based services and tools at low cost. These are key to both incumbent and new ventures' future success and are essential investments in people and technology. 

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Strategy and architecture

Data is your business and requires a new architecture and leadership:

  1. Business layer - new smart layer for data, operations and online
  2. Application Architecture - shared data and seamless interaction
  3. Data Architecture - remove silos, decouple layers, liberate data.
  4. Technology Architecture – technical implementation.
  5.  Data – regarded as an asset, shared, accessible, all responsible 
  6. Combine internal and external data into a smart business layer to allow online deliver for new businesses and initiatives.
  7. Governance and leadership of above

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Availability and resilience

Availability and accuracy are essential and requires:

  1. Business Continuity – tests, recovery, resilience, plans, review
  2. Reduce technical and service provider diversity so risk and cost.
  3. Simple solutions – agile development, loosely coupled systems, incremental delivery, cross-functional teams.
  4. Confidentiality - the level of access should be given appropriate processes, review and audit for legal and regulatory standards.
  5. Integrity – original data, no duplication, accurate, maintained, risk analysis, consistent and available.
  6. Often Cloud-based for cost, maintenance, performance, scalability, availability, operational and management tools. 

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Cybersecurity and reputation

Guard your reputation and follow new regulations:

  1. Lawfulness, fairness, and transparency.
  2. Purpose limitation, data and role minimisation, logging, alerts
  3. Cybersecurity via patching, monitoring, testing, reporting
  4. Integrity, confidentiality and accountability
  5. Security based on network and operating system security 
  6. Advanced access management, enhanced application security. 
  7. Data Encryption, regulation, accountability, audit.
  8. Compliance Business Framework, i.e. all responsible
  9. All the above for vendors, contractors and service providers


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Business transformation requirements

Technology can help facilitate business transformations, such as:

  1. Customer-Centric – full functionality, trust, personalised.
  2. Operational Excellence – simplify, innovation, efficiency.
  3. Continuous Innovation – data, technology, talent, offerings
  4. Technology – data, digital platform, cybersecurity, AI/ML
  5. Human Enablers – agile teams, cross-functional, motivate, reward, challenge.

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CEO and enterprise support

For larger-scale projects, this will include Board level support:

  1. CEO not just sanction but to prioritise and hold accountable.
  2. Clear targets – communicate cost savings, revenues, improved performance of agents, and satisfaction of employees and customers— new ways of working with new capabilities.
  3. Secure investment – lower profits, current business, and build new, innovation with pilot Projects – easy wins, short-term, well defined, measurable projects.
  4. CTO and /or Chief Digital Officer (CDO) – high calibre launch team, co-ordinate transformation. Insights - Robin Pollock

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Complexity is an opportunity and necessity.

If the solution were simple, it would have little value, so companies with Intellectual Property (IP) in the right tools and people grow fastest and are most highly valued. Complexity in all businesses forms includes technical, financial, operational, legal and regulatory, time, change, people, quality and process. A good CTO should work with all areas to simplify and refocus efforts. Change can cause fear and be threatening, but with COVID and Brexit and the changing workplace and markets, it cannot be ignored. Understanding all the factors above with proven help could be invaluable. 

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Business first

Guiding enterprises through the maze of possible opportunities and responsibilities today requires experience and wisdom. Success requires judgement and vision and builds confidence and trust. I want to think that one can listen, learn, guide, adapt and deliver in all areas as I have done before to build real success and value in any complex organisation. Thank you all

Please contact me for more details.


 Copyright © 2021 No2it - All Rights Reserved. Updated 14 January 2021

robin@robinpollock.com

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