Are we sure that Business as usual can still be a concept that can be related just to the IT system availability?
I’m referring now to the business as usual concept, where to avoid/prevent possible business impacts, we try to adopt redundant machines in order to prevent possible fail overs. The concept is: the less I change a working environment, the less I’ll expose myself and my business to possible risks related to any change.
This approach for sure always a good point of view, but our world is changing… as always did, but in this years, changes are much faster than in the past.
Standard & Poors
We’re running now in turnover years
It’s always more difficult to be and stay market leaders. The average company lifespan on S&P 500 index decreased from the 60 years in 1960 to 15 in 2015. (CB insight).
Analysts say that 89% of the companies listed in Fortune 500 in 1955 are no more in this list in 2015 and in the next 10 years, the 40% of the existing one will disappear
The markets were we’re working is under a continuous evolution. Do you remember Kodak? Blockbuster? BlackBerry? Nokia?
All of them were real market leaders for many years, but all of them, failed. We are always more in an uncertainty situation. Things are evolving much faster than we may expect and to swap from a front runner position to a desperate follower it’s a snap. What’s happened to those companies? Simply they didn’t understood the evolution of the businesses and the need of the innovation and from a front runner position they failed: like “desperate follower” as Nokia or worst in bankrupt like Blockbuster.
Apple, Google, Tesla, Amazon and all the “new companies” demonstrate us that success is strongly related with innovation and fast reaction to the evolving market scenario.
Business as usual?
Work smart doesn’t means we’ve to work more, this means that we need to leverage new technologies and new opportunities to do our business more smart. At the same time, we’ve to act in a more smarter way on what we’re asked to do.
Few years ago it was pretty impossible to consider seriously our big data centres to be outsourced. Business data running on machines out of our firewall. The idea to store personal and /or business data in the cloud was something that IT operation guys were laughing if it has been considered like a possible option.
Working smart: The Unicorn Companies
The unicorn companies, (private companies valued at $1 billion or more) have a common factor: they are fast and reactive to business changes and possible they open new trends instead to follow existing one. How to be fast? The easiest answer can be: leverage what’s can be available like a commodity and be focused on the target to be reached.
TeslaMotors company is the example how a company can grow working smart. Founded in 2004 in 2015 has a market cap of $32B. Ford, just like example, founded in 1903 has now a market cap or $60B….. yes , but.. in 110 years.
Someone asks how long it takes to be an unicorn? The answer is incredibly in sync with the increased speed of the evolution.
Google the “oldest” reached its first Billion in 1998 in 8 years time-frame. Tesla, the Electric car company achieved the 1st billin in 5 years, Facebook in 4, Uber in 3 and Snapchat in just 2 years…… Please stand up the hands who says that market it’s not changing fast!
World is changing very fast, business is changing. My question for you again is: Business as usual or working smart?
Do you want to drill down into IT smart working? Please let me know and I’ll happy to reply your questions and comments.
