Road to Digital

Tag: featured

  • Macro and strategic trends in tech industry

    Love this presentation from Benedict Evans on macro and strategic trends in the tech industry. Thank you, Ben. It raises the trillion-dollar question – what is the next big wave in tech? I think tech being systemically important to society ( with tech regulation) is a given and is already happening.

    My 2c: I think (and hope) that the next big wave will be the purpose-driven tech companies that solve some of the biggest problems facing humankind than mere convenience. The next big wave of companies will be society, nature, and universe obsessed!

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    Source: Benedict Evans

  • Six signs that your enterprise digital transformation has gone awry

    Digital and business transformation are enterprise-wide initiatives and done right, it is teamwork at its best as there are multiple cross-functional teams involved and hierarchies within those teams. Think of a matrix web structure. What would it take to move so many people, especially if things have to be delivered fast? It is no wonder then that many digital transformations fail or fall way short.

    How does one know the transformation is not going well? They maybe just one person amongst tens or hundreds or even thousands. There will be signs all over if you pay close attention. You do NOT even need to look at a status report, just look at these signs for yourself:

    • You are unclear about your role and responsibilities or your team’s roles and responsibilities
    • You simply don’t know or vaguely know how you’re making a difference. You’ve been asked to do certain things
    • You see consultants brought in to mediate or align teams (particularly, business and IT)
    • There is a business case, vision, objectives but only available to “higher-ups”
    • You spend the majority of your time explaining or defending your work, not doing your work
    • You worry too much about failure and the repercussions carry a heavy price

  • Tech disruption across sectors

    The chart below substantiates how much tech is disrupting the traditional sectors. You’d have qualitatively heard that software is eating the world etc. etc., but this graph (though not perfect) shows HOW much.

    Simply put, Technology is a) eating into other sectors b) gaining market share, and c) revenue is leaking from other sectors (for e.g. Financials) into Technology.

    If your company is in the traditional sector, this threat from Technology should pretty much define the business strategy. Covid is only going to accelerate this trend. How should non-tech companies defend? Stay tuned!

    Thanks to bespoke for the graph

  • SaaS trends and spend

    Blissfully report is a gold mine of data for technology teams and leaders interested in SaaS trends and spend. One thing is clear, SaaS apps are proliferating in organizations and have to be proactively managed from a cost and experience perspective. Here is a snapshot of the 2019 SaaS trends from the report.

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  • Working 70+ hours a week?

    From HBR: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

    “I really became a robot,” a manager at an accounting firm explained. She and her colleagues worked extraordinarily long hours, but, she said, “I thought it was normal. It’s like brainwashing. You are in a kind of mental system where you are under increasing demands, and you say to yourself that it doesn’t matter, that you will rest afterwards, but that moment never comes.”

    Through my research, I’ve heard stories like this over and over again from people in accounting firms, law firms, consulting firms, and other white-collar jobs. We all know that chronic overwork is bad for our mental and physical health and can seriously jeopardize the quality of our work. We wish we could change the way we work, but we don’t really know how.