There was a paper written in 2011 which talked about the coming wave of digital transformation and how it would engulf every aspect of our lives. The paper was a collaboration between Capgemini Consulting and the MIT Center for Digital Business, and the predictions of the future contained in that paper are now today’s reality.
The paper urged software business executives to look beyond their current business model and to “think outside the box” on how various software point solutions might consolidate into an entire soup-to-nuts solution. A good example of this today is Omni-Channel Marketing.
The Omni-Channel Marketing model embraces many heretofore point solutions. This includes the integration of social media, like Facebook with product advertising. Facebook’s integration gives customers the ability to initiate product evaluation on social media, utilize customer ratings on various product choices, make a product choice and then make a purchase. All in one seamless end-to-end process.
Software executives and entrepreneurs must focus on identifying vertical or horizontal end-to-end business process models where their solutions fit and add value. In this way, the executives will be able to clearly articulate their solutions via a concise executive summary which can be used to effectively sell their solutions and potentially set up their company for a higher value M&A transaction in the future.
In order to stay alive in today’s market, software executives need to learn how to take advantage of digital transformation and improve their business model – don’t get left behind as a casualty of this technological shift.