In a recent post for Gartner Blogs, Scott Nelson talks about how IT leaders obsess about not using a technology that their competitors use for a given business function. The key reason that they seem to think about is around “competitive differentiation”.
As Scott rightly points out, the differentiation doesn’t necessarily come from the technology or the solution that they deploy.
The competitive differentiation comes when we focus on “How” and the “Why” and not on the “What”.
The reason (Why) a business might deploy the exact same technology or even product can be very different. Some might want to just focus on productivity improvement while someone else might be looking for competitive advantage.
How an organisation deploys a technology or even the exact same product can be very different. Some might choose to deploy the standard product with as less customisation as possible, while someone else might decide to heavily customise their deployment.
The speed and pace of adoption also plays an important role in the impact a piece of technology can have in a business. This also depends on who within the organisation is driving the adoption of technology – is it the IT leaders or the business leaders.
So, the question then is how does a business create competitive advantage through deploying technology?
Strategy of the business defines how and where a business wants to gain competitive advantage. The deployment of technology enables the realisation of the strategy.
I have observed that there is not much creative deliberations or thinking goes into deployment of technology within business areas, which is a missed opportunity. Every time we make an intervention in how a business is run, we need to explore if there is a way to add a dash of creative thinking in the mix.
I would personally like more IT teams explore if there are ways to eliminate automate, reduce or create something, which could potentially have an outsized impact.
Almost all technology vendors claim that deploying their technology will provide competitive advantage to the business. However, we need to remember that deploying technology only has the potential to create competitive advantage. One needs to have a clear strategy and a strong execution in order to realise the potential.
