Alexander Nicholas Kozlov
The digital era and its fundamentally disruptive impact presents compelling opportunities and daunting challenges for both IT service providers and buyers. The stakes are particularly high for top executives tasked not only with defining and executing go-to-market strategies, but with making decisions on a daily basis that will have lasting repercussions on their businesses.
Consider these trends:
- Fueled by demand for “all things digital,” the outsourcing market recently reached record levels in terms of both annual contract value and volume of contracts. While certainly a positive for providers seeking new opportunities, this booming and dynamic market also poses a tough question: which opportunities should we pursue? While there are certainly more deals out there to be won, more competitors are out there pursuing them. And those competitors – who face increasingly low barriers to entry – are homing in on niche capabilities and specific areas of expertise. This puts the onus on buyers to know the market when selecting a partner or a solution. It also puts pressure on providers to know their sweet spot as well as that of their competitors; otherwise they’re throwing resources at chasing deals they have little chance of winning.
- Incumbent providers continue to face the dilemma of what to do about traditional labor arbitrage outsourcing deals that are in place. Maintaining the status quo creates the risk of aggressive competitors stepping in with promises of automation and dramatic productivity gains, while proactively introducing those innovations risks cannibalization and disruption of existing business models. Customers managing those traditional deals, meanwhile, need to ask themselves if they’re missing an opportunity, and if their provider is doing enough to leverage technology to drive business benefits.
- Harnessing the potential of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and intelligent software tools to reduce costs and boost productivity is a top priority for businesses across a wide range of industries. While the market for basic RPA functionality is maturing and enterprises are benefitting from lessons learned, the optimal strategy for deploying more advanced cognitive and machine learning initiatives remains open to debate. Specifically, is it better to pursue a vision that yields dramatic gains, or to focus on short-term incremental progress? Put differently, is the angst of FOMO worth risking the championing of a grandiose and unrealistically ambitious project comes up empty?
To navigate these issues and make effective decisions, executives need to understand when to take risks and when to be cautious. They also need to recognize what they don’t know, to find the best talent and to trust the expertise of their teams. While these traits have always been important, what do the unique characteristics and demands of today’s business environment mean for executive leaders?
That question will be addressed by panel discussions at the eMerge Americas Conference 2018 in Miami, Florida, April 23rd and 24th. Marcos Jimenez, CEO of Softtek US and Canada, will participate in a panel discussion titled “Leadership in the Digital Era.” He and other panelists will examine keys to success and share their personal experiences and observations on how digital technology has redefined the role of business decision makers. In addition, Camila Casale, CMO of Softtek US and Canada, will join a panel of Women in Technology leaders who will discuss the gender gap in technology, how to overcome obstacles and keys to developing the next generation of women business leaders.
