Innovation and Collaboration within the Cloud Industry

Synopsis

Innovation is important as it is the place where ideas, new processes, improvements are nurtured. Technology can be used to aid this but should be used appropriately and purposefully. Ultimately, cloud technology can only benefit innovation as long as people collaborate and risks are able to be taken (in a safe environment). At the end of the day, innovation is all about people, being free to ‘dare’ and come up with ideas. This is the bedrock of society and how, of course, fire was discovered…

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Background

The Cloud market is rapidly growing and many companies are looking to leverage the potential of the available technology. The reason is simply it can enable organisations, no matter how large or small, at the click of a switch deliver a service that, in the past could take days, weeks, months, or even years to complete.

If this happens, with ‘heavy-lifting’ tasks being achieved via these means, there is the ability to free up valuable resources, such as time, money, people to deliver other valuable outcomes, such as innovation. In a nutshell, the cloud enables you “to do what you want to do”.

Innovation, in the ‘Oxford English Dictionary’, is defined as… “The introduction of new things, ideas or ways of doing something”. With cloud technology and what we have stated above, you can now see it’s easier for this to be achieved.

Innovation within organisations can then reap many benefits, such as creating more effective processes, products and ideas. It is the ‘niche’ the organization has and if used intelligently, can deliver strong tangible outcomes. You can totally concentrate on what your customer wants and not what “you think” they want.

The state of Cloud Innovation now and what’s the future?

Therefore, innovation and cloud technology go hand-in-hand in the digital world and is an area that needs to be embraced by any 21st Century (Industry 4.0) ambitious company.

Innovation could be, as stated above, looking at processes of how your organisation interacts with its customers? Could an interaction such as this be enhanced by technology such as artificial intelligence or machine learning? Having the time to investigate this is a valuable commodity.

There are other factors that need to aid innovation with the main pillar being data (the company’s own or its sector). Data is the foundation of what the organisation is and what it wants to achieve and can be sought from internal processes e.g. how quickly a service is delivered; or with their customers e.g. customer satisfaction scores.  Once verified it can then, and only then, be appropriately harnessed and used productively.

Technology, Collaboration, Innovation

The Covid-19 Pandemic has changed the way organisations, individuals, and society view the way we live, both professionally and in our personal lives.

Technology has been embraced in order for us to collaborate in our remote lifestyle. It has changed the way meetings are run, services are delivered. Ultimately, this digital way of working has the potential to make companies more effective and efficient in the way they operate.

But technology can only do this if our working culture embraces this change. Technology can do many things but it can never replace the most valuable commodity a business has, and that’s the people (not bots) they have as its employees. Change management, being open to ideas (the business as a whole), collaboration has never been more important. Not seeing your colleagues face-to-face can be seen as a barrier but if you think, over time, it will become the norm. Therefore, the better an organisation can manage this area, develop/nurture this seed, the more successful it will be. The platform will then be built for the future.

If these building blocks are looked after it will only aid collaboration which, will in turn of course, allow us to innovate.

So if we collaborate to innovate, what do you need?

So what are the building blocks for innovation within an organization? Below are some areas we recommend you having in place:

1. Executive Support – you need the backing from the top (financial, business acumen, emotional) and they “have your back, whether you win or fail”. You will possibly fail more times than you succeed – this needs to be culturally accepted.
2. Agile Mindset – Be iterative, be dynamic, take risks! Aim for your MVP, get it out there, and then work on it as required.
3. Environment – Whether it’s an Innovation Lab or simply an area within a team, there needs to be a place (physical/digital/both) where thought processes, problem-solving, entrepreneurship can safely go ahead.
4. Technology – Use technology to aid the process but do not be afraid to use a “pen and paper” if it does the job.
5. Budget – You need the money to experiment and failures are not seen as a “loss”.
6. People – The secret and most important ingredient. Machines cannot (yet!) replace the greatest computer on the planet – the human brain. This is the greatest asset for breeding innovation and needs to be freed.