Downturns and disruptions are inevitable. Whether businesses lose momentum or adapt and advance, boils down to being resilient and moving forward.
In recent times, technology has come to the rescue in giving enterprises a head start on creating business resilience. But is it enough?
Resilience is a much-needed adaptive attribute, especially in the face of shocking events (like the pandemic outbreak). However, too much resilience can turn into a hindrance as businesses can become overly tolerant.
Combining this with the technological disruptions all around, it is easy to be baffled by the onslaught of new technologies, each with its own promise of creating an impact and changing the world.
In such a scenario, how does one choose what tech is needed now and what can wait for business?
According to Sigal Atzmon, President, and Chief Executive Officer at Medix Global, a medical science and tech company looking to transform patient care, the pandemic proved to be a great opportunity to reinvent. “No company can survive without reinventing and reintroducing new technologies. Resilience is just not enough. It must be accompanied by constant forward-thinking innovations. At Medix, whenever we develop new tech, we look closely at three parameters viz. accessibility, proven medical outcomes, and affordability. The only way to put all three into play is through technological innovation,” she says.
It is extremely important that business and tech leaders create a strategy that is resilient and at the same time forward-looking, and competitive.
“Technology has been a saviour and has provided us with a platform to reconfigure ourselves. For us, it is all about building inclusive technology that takes everyone along, right from our employees to partners to end-consumers,” says Dr. Ramesh Shanmuganathan, Group Chief Information Officer & Executive VP at Sri Lanka’s largest conglomerate John Keells Holdings PLC, with operations in the sectors of transportation, hotels, property, consumer foods and retail, information technology, etc.
The pace of technological change continues to accelerate, opening doors to new innovations and business models. While enterprises embrace new technologies, they will also require creating capabilities that absorb this continuous change for all their stakeholders.
According to Jeremie Brabet-Adonajlo, Founder & CEO, Pzartech, which develops solutions for industrial maintenance, the rate of technological change will continue to accelerate. “We need to figure out what to implement for the right deployment of resources. Internally, we have figured this out by focusing on three parameters. The first is to find value for the customer. It is imperative to set KPIs to measure the value one creates through technological change. The second is the financial viability of this change, and third, is the maturity of tech,” he says.
Atreyam Sharma, Co-founder & VP (Technology), Workshop4me, one of the youngest entrepreneurs, a coder, and a hard-core gamer in continental Europe, states that the current scenario is one of the greatest opportunities for enterprises to serve their users/consumers. “Technology today can solve most of the commonplace problems. However, user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) are the two key essentials for both employees and consumers. It is important that enterprises design and create UX/UI elements that can make their business more adaptable,” he says.
An organisation-wide, unified tech strategy seems to be the most effective approach to prepare for and shape the future of business. It can provide a competitive edge in the industry, bring to light innovative ideas, accelerate action during times of disruption, tap new trends, and enhance employee and customer engagement.
(The speakers in this article shared their views in a panel on Crafting Resilient Tech: Staying a Step Ahead of Disruption at the recently concluded Economic Times Global Business Summit on 17th and 18th February 2023 in New Delhi)
