Change is constant, but today the rate of change in the business world has become dizzying. Historically, only 20% of companies have survived a disruption, and sometimes they are not the biggest but the most agile.
Two thousand years ago, technological advances such as the plow along with labor and large extensions of land defined superiority, however, that was replaced over time by the industrial revolution. Only a few centuries ago, success no longer depended on extensive land but on new methods of using peopleā labour. Today, a few decades ago, semiconductors and the Internet transformed the priority of forces again, and manual labor was no longer part of the success equation; technology plus ingenuity defined power.
It is obvious that the combination of technology, land, ingenuity and labour in different proportions has served as a driving force for strategic mastery, but the fundamental basis that is now alarming is the speed of change. Millennia, centuries, decades and in the present there are influential companies that are born, shine and fail in the same year.
Agility
Taking the financial industry as an example, technology is continuously transforming what customers demand in terms of service channels and the new Fintech along with crypto-currencies are modifying entry barriers making them more permeable than they were a few years ago. Competitive strength comes not only from organizational size but also from the constant analysis of new strategic advantages.
The fastest companies are moving through the process several orders of magnitude faster than the competition. They manage to identify profitable opportunities for new services by iterating up to 4 times before releasing a new supply into production. In addition, industry leaders become experts at implementing and reversing quickly if a new initiative creates problems.
EPIDATA helps its clients to define processes and quality metrics to prioritize and select the projects that achieve the greatest impact on quality and productivity along with work plans for success.
Opportunity for Who?
There is a huge amount of change in business finances and it is happening very quickly. The CFO can not only compare the numbers from the last period with the current one but is closely involved in guiding the investments associated with the digital transformation, projecting the impacts and analyzing the results. Therefore, CFOs must pay special attention to the details of Digital Transformation initiatives by matching activities with the budget process to enable the transition.
In cases of process automation, increases in productivity can lead to the trap of reducing billing or bringing the marginal cost of transactions to zero. Cost and profitability models require a new holistic view to take advantage of new opportunities to improve profitability.
At Epidata we have professionals to analyze what the customers of this service are looking for and what other companies in the sector are doing to generate Competitive Intelligence and to reformulate the strategy to align the organization and maximize profitability.
Disruptions
As for the disruptions that occur in this industry, it is not advisable to play safe. Historically, only 20% of companies survive a significant disruptive change in the sector. Weāve heard it many times, from the agricultural horse dealer to the DVD rental. Whatās the point of moving up from 8th to 7th place if only the top two in the service provider list are going to be left?
At Epidata we advise our clients to identify disruptive patterns and prioritise initiatives to minimise the risk of missed opportunities.
