The large volumes of data that transit, mobility and the increasing number of digital devices we use or even cyber risks, all call for much greater agility within an organization. IT departments are first in line when it comes to addressing these challenges and their implications. However, some have cast doubt on whether they should actually play a role.
Why IT Departments are Important
OMG…you must be kidding!! Indeed some articles in the press have suggested that IT departments aren’t needed in an organization anymore and that they will eventually die out. With a growing digital-nomad workforce and employees that are much more digital-savvy, one could argue that these two trends are enough to justify that IT departments may be becoming old school and not really in-tune with the needs of modern-day users.
Digital natives, as per their name, are a generation born and brought up during the age of digital technology, and are so tech-savvy that they could handle whatever technical issues they come across on their own. Those who support and suggest such a surprising assumption do not realize the extent and scope of what an IT department covers within an organization.
An IT department reaches across the whole organization and supports all business aspects: it is in charge of managing, running and securing the entire IT hardware infrastructure. We live in a world where internet users are used to having everything delivered, ready and operational from A to Z. This easy-to-have and easy-access to all this technology skews our judgement leading us to believe that we are digital independent. Big mistake.
The smallest SaaS (Software as a Service) solution, as simple as it may be to subscribe to, is nothing more than an empty shell: solutions of this nature require support from IT, if only to ensure compliance issues, security or “simply” to migrate data. With that you need to factor in Cyber Risk management and you clearly understand why believing that we can afford not to have an IT department anymore is completely ludicrous and even very dangerous.
Raising Awareness of Employees
WANNACRY. This simple word freaked out so many companies across the globe.
It was back in 2017, this new-generation malware spread panic across corporate networks as it quickly infected more than 200 000 computers crippling a significant part of the economy in 150 countries spreading through computers seamlessly without needing any human intervention. There is no down time for hackers: they operate at night, during holidays, on weekends, whenever…cybercrime has become a very lucrative business.
In this hyper connected world where data is the new Holy Grail, organizations need to shape up and reinforce their defenses. Now, more than ever, they will need to rely on an IT department that is efficient and cyber-ready to detect, protect against and address their network vulnerabilities.
But looking strictly at the IT side of things isn’t enough. Remote work, having become the norm during the pandemic, has demonstrated that the information, files and documents shared via networks greatly heightened cyber risks with more opportunities for hackers to strike. Those who have been victims of cybercrime know this: having a VPN for protection isn’t enough. You need to raise awareness among employees on the do’s and don’ts or best practices when users are online (refraining from clicking on a suspicious link, looking out for content and/or emails sent by unknown senders…).
According to a report on Cybersecurity issued by IBM, 95% of all security breaches are due to human error caused mainly by easy-to-guess passwords. And who could have guessed that most cyber threats actually originate from USB keys, devices we use everyday? 40% of USB keys contain at least one risky file.
In fact more and more IT departments have actually started running fake cyber attacks to test users and raise their awareness on cyber hygiene which is a good thing. We all contribute to securing and keeping our organization safe.
The Importance of Collaborating
So how do we all “reconnect?” How did we end up believing that IT departments serve no purpose within companies? Maybe it’s because some of them give off the impression that they keep to themselves and are cut off from the rest of us. But that would be a big mistake: contributors that belong to the same ecosystem feed off each other. In this specific case relating to cybersecurity, one contributor can flag an attack while another can intervene to protect against it. This is why it is important to raise awareness, share information and keep everyone informed at all times.
It’s all about breaking down silos and exploring new frontiers when it comes to fending off new cyber risks together. And this is where Project Leads come in – they can actually play a major role. They can help by being the go-between between the business side and the IT department qualifying, gathering and addressing all the users’ needs in the best possible way.
The IT department, when acknowledged as the official “go-to” people within a company or organization, remains, at the end of the day, the first point of entry open to employees for any IT incident they may encounter at work.
Every IT department should be “Employee Centric” minded: a strategy that puts the employee first whether the employee is on site or working remotely. Moreover, companies need to provide around the clock IT services with SOCs (Security Operation Centers) in order to monitor, prevent, detect, investigate and respond to cyber threats 24/7.
And of course let’s not forget SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) to prequalify threat severity levels and allowing for human intervention. Only an IT department possesses that expertise.
The role of an IT department is therefore considerable in an organization. It can automate processes, work towards making interactions much more smoother, so that all the company stakeholders can work together more efficiently and effectively very rapidly. The IT department is unique in that it can leverage AI-embedded technologies and Machine Learning, for instance, to protect the ecosystem against cyber threats.
We are definitely referring to an ecosystem because the IT department needs to be at the heart of the system that “feeds it” and that it supports. It is a matter of digital hygiene. Getting rid of it would be a big mistake.
We don’t solve a problem by pretending there is no problem. Remember what Donald Trump suggested during the pandemic? “If we stop testing, we’d have fewer cases.” Absurd. But I’ll let you be the judge of that.
Article published in French news site La Tribune by Alain Conrard, Prodware CEO
OPINION. Anticipating, predicting, figuring out what the future has in store…, predictive analytics has always fascinated us human beings. By Alain Conrard, CEO of the Prodware Group
“To govern is to anticipate,” as the saying goes. The etymology of “govern” derived from the Greek kybernan (to steer a ship) and from the Latin gubernare (rudder of a ship) refers to that of a rudder. The terms “govern », « rudder », « government » or « governor » all stem from the instrument used to steer a ship. The term used metaphorically describes the running of a state or the “governance » of a corporation.
Another word derived directly from kubernêtikê is cybernetics, a theory elaborated by Norbert Wiener in the United States in the late 40s. He laid the theoretical foundations for the multidisciplinary field of cybernetics, the study of controlling the flow of information in systems with feedback loops, be they biological, political, cognitive, social and so on. The theory is credited as being the first of many direct developments to come, that for a large part, have structured our collective imaginary and the technical-scientific reality of our contemporary world. There is no cognitive science, neurobiology, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, internet, IoT, IT, communication to speak of, no automation or robotics without the conceptual approach of this “comprehensive theory of control and communication as it relates to living things and machines.” Cybernetics has even contributed to the philosophy of ecology. In fact, the widespread use of the “cyber” prefix in modern-day language is a testament to the defining role of Cybernetics.
To govern therefore means steering the rudder in order to control, communicate and drive. In other words anticipating the potential turbulences to secure a safe passage, so as not to be caught off guard when the storm hits. Every business leader has got to get his “sea legs” in a way because the market today, just like the high seas, has become so volatile and rough. It is probably no coincidence that we say “captains of industry.”
The power of anticipation
Anticipating, predicting, trying to figure out what the future holds…, predictive analytics has always fascinated mankind. From Pythia to fortune tellers right through to shamans, astrologists, psychics, tarot or palm readers, we have always wanted to know what tomorrow is made of. Science fiction has largely drawn upon this phenomenon that spurs the imagination: The Minority Report, a movie imagined by Philip K. Dick, where a specialized police department called “Precrime” apprehends criminals based on foreknowledge is a perfect example of this phenomenon. Predictive algorithms are getting us very close to making this ancient dream come true.
Among the new breakthroughs in innovation are the numerous anticipation-ready capabilities (and therefore of the modelling of the complex evolution process in time) which are undoubtedly the most fascinating.
In the business world, intuition has always been a trusted and natural instinct relied on as a decision-making tool, especially for business leaders who know their respective market inside out. However, when considering the recent advances and performance levels of predictive solutions, relying on instinct is more or less akin to steering and driving one’s business in heavy fog, or making important financial projections for the company based on the only hope that the outcome turns out as expected and keeping one’s fingers crossed to avert bad luck.
The history of information used to make informed decisions and projections has been linear for a very long time despite whatever crises. And this linear pattern of information allowed for an appreciation of the future based on statistical variations rather easy to anticipate. This type of historical data just does not cut it anymore. We cannot afford to only rely on the past (and on certain hand-me down practices) to figure out what to do in the future. There is an urgent need to take into account the range of complexities of the different contexts.
Moreover, today’s market shifts and disruptions are so unheard of that experience alone, once something we could count on, is now drowned by instability gone fully systemic, and is, at the end of the day, on its way to becoming useless. In other words, in order to be able to predict, you need to factor in a much more significant array of parameters than « before » – the « before » designating a very recent period. It is also important to process these parameters with greater insight in order to highlight the different existing correlations, often difficult to perceive, without resorting to the new business-decision making tools and solutions available today (Business Intelligence).
It is about both appreciating more clearly and more vastly, and seeing farther beyond and far more accurately. In short, it is about leveraging new technologies to determine what goals can reasonably be set and what means are needed to achieve these goals.
Quelling uncertainty
Predictive analytics is one way to cope with uncertainty, which reigns supreme, in a time where nothing is sure and especially where nothing is stable anymore. Trying to anticipate is even made more challenging because of the numerous and growing interactions between the many different economic players within a globalized market (suppliers, raw materials, sub-contractors, supply chain, distributors, logistics, politics, and so on…). Hence, any management decision today, has to factor in a level of complexity never encountered before.
Today, more than ever, one of the major challenges a company has to face is to figure out, as precisely as possible, what the expectations of its potential target market are (both in the B-to-C and B-to-B segments) with regard to the products it currently manufactures or will be manufacturing in the future or those products it intends to upgrade. Anticipating this way will help in planning and adjusting the production rates accordingly, and furthermore these decisions will have an important impact on logistics and the distribution process. In fact, being able to predict customer demand will map out the entire economic cycle of the business and in the end, the profit margin. Today, anticipating customer demand ranks, in large part, as the top business driver or even what enables a business to stay in the game.
Deciding when decision-making is next to impossible
The global pandemic has unleashed an economic tornado like never before. The Covid-19 crisis has brought such consequential parameters to the surface that they could seriously call into question most of our proven analytical methodologies. The intensity, breadth and brutality of the crisis has brought into view unknowns with multiple variables that demand we appreciate data sets in many different ways in light of the new complex and random evolutionary models. This crisis does not only do away with the regular behaviour patterns usually used for predictive modeling of future trends but underscores the many vulnerable areas of the global economic system. The situation we are going through is a textbook case of the value and pertinence of economic and social predictive algorithms.
With the insecurity fueled by the pandemic all over the world, business moving forward is far from being a walk in the park. This very troubled period is marked by an extremely volatile economy. Predicting customer demand has therefore become a necessity while also being harder than ever to do. Although predicting demand is not something new per se, it has reached unprecedented performance levels with the advent of new technologies (essentially Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Big Data, the Internet of Things) and the growing computational power of computers. Predictive algorithms help stay the course amid an ever-fluctuating bubble where there are no patterns to speak of, where the tracking history can no longer be used as a reliable source to draw up statistics. They help make near-foolproof predictions of future potential scenarios with a newly acquired and developing power of clairvoyance feeding into the decision-making process without which efficient and informed decisions could be made.
Reducing complexity by resorting to complexity
These new tools using multi-sector metrics based on artificial intelligence and deep modelling approaches provide multiple future scenarios and alternatives. Then, after comparing the different scenarios we can map out the different B, C, D etc. action plans. Thus, the updating of these alternative future scenarios greatly secures investments by planning supply, production rates and logistics in line with the actual and factual situational factors.
By making sure the future is not just a mere linear continuation of the present and by elaborating complex scenarios that may appear to be counter intuitive at times but are much more sensible, these Business Intelligence-ready predictive algorithms help make truly informed decisions. Moreover, you can generate weekly or monthly predictive analytics dashboards for more visibility on the future, leaving little room for uncertainty. The technological complexity of these tools brilliantly addresses the psychological and analytical complexity of decision-making.
Predictive decision-making algorithms are new ways of embracing and rethinking the future, setting the stage for what to do in the present. Because these algorithms can potentially unearth new profitable growth opportunities, they are working their way to becoming authentic business co-pilots for any business today willing to secure and ensure its growth strategy and future.
In some way, they are both a compass and a rudder that help safely navigate the rough seas, flagging and anticipating the turbulent weather ahead. With what innovation brings thanks to predictive algorithms, we can now say, “that to anticipate is to succeed.”
(*) By Alain Conrard, author of, “Taking the Plunge! A Different Take on Innovation » published by Cent Mille Milliards, in September 2020, and CEO of the Prodware Group and President of the Commission on Digital Strategies of the METI, a professional guild of French mid-market companies.
While the digital transformation of companies, accelerated by the pandemic, continues to grow at a rapid pace, and with the ubiquitousness of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain or the Internet of Things, we are breaking down the barriers of IT systems.
With a much fiercer competitive landscape, companies now need to find ways to address a two-pronged problem: How do you align your IT transformation with your transformation strategy? All the stakeholders of the IT department must therefore be ready to dive into these uncharted territories to better appreciate and understand the ins and outs of the new breadth of this territory in order to provide the leadership of the company with all the support needed through their digital transformation journey.
From ERP to fine-tuned strategy: approving transformation plans before launching the ground work
Architectures based on a fully integrated ERP system have been the most popular moving forward for many years. They often simplify access to powerful tools, although they tend to cover general processes as opposed to specialized domains. A reliable and quick turn-to solution that is however limited in scope and application layers when it comes to addressing business pains. Does that mean you need to go for a “best of breed” approach with highly specialized business applications?
Architectures based on a fully integrated ERP system have been the most popular moving forward for many years. They often simplify access to powerful tools, although they tend to cover general processes as opposed to specialized domains. A reliable and quick turn-to solution that is however limited in scope and application layers when it comes to addressing business pains. Does that mean you need to go for a “best of breed” approach with highly specialized business applications?
Let’ face it. ERP solutions are here to stay. However, what we’re seeing emerge more and more is a hybrid approach. By bringing together cloud-based and on-premise solutions, ERP and industry-specific solutions, CIOs can garner full-scope capability in building an architecture that can support the digital transformation of businesses.
In today’s digital transformation context, a high-performance information system cannot solely rely on an ERP solution, no matter how robust it is. This is something we encounter with our customers everyday. The real challenge lies in identifying the very specific needs of a customer and embracing the new technological alternatives in order to properly scope and assess the new system to be designed. It is all about deploying an ERP-centric strategy that seamlessly integrates innovative and state-of-the-art industry-specific solutions.
Once these technological alternatives properly mastered, the idea is to shift one’s focus on the potential growth paths they provide for the business, the profitability and the strategy to adopt moving forward.
Robust Infrastructure – Trusting your Solution Architect
As the boundaries of Information Systems keep expanding thanks to the onslaught of new technologies, innovations, applications and intelligent services, it seems that application architecture has now becomes the linchpin that holds everything together. The role of the architect is to clearly define the scope of the solutions by selecting the various components that are relevant for the transformation project.
The traditional way of managing an IT project is usually centered around defining an initial ERP deployment roadmap. However getting the right components, deciding on the best tools to use and making sure we are addressing whatever specific requirements calls for the guidance and best practices of a Solution Architect.
Now more than ever, with the advent of new AI-based technologies, data and the Cloud, software vendors such as Microsoft are able to offer a wide range of business-specific applications to support the implementation of solutions around a core ERP. This unique portfolio of intelligent business applications enables each company to optimize the performance of its IT system by ensuring operational excellence and creating real-time interactive customer experiences.
Overview of innovative modular solutions to integrate with an ERP solution to enhance user experience:
- Virtual reality solutions bringing work and data to life;
- AI solutions providing information and service for enhanced customer experiences and supporting users in their decision making;
- Low-code development platforms allowing users with no formal knowledge of coding or software to innovate using Microsoft’s « low-code » Power Platform for services used by more than 97% of the Fortune 500 companies;
- Business solutions: specialized software vendors and partners that provide specialized turnkey solutions supporting the different Microsoft solutions.
The 6 Keys to a Successful Digital Transformation
The growing capability of systems to interface and integrate with other applications from different tools or software vendors has also significantly contributed to the development of this ecosystem. Nevertheless, a common data stream needs to be the focal point of any system and Microsoft, with its suite of tools at all levels of the system, has clearly embraced this concept. If we were to itemize the key points leading to a successful digital transformation, then these would be the following:
- Choose a solution that is designed to support transformation
- Make sure it integrates with the technical ecosystem especially with the ERP
- Think interoperability for future integrations and further developments
- Work with the right partners and integrators
- Adopt a consistent data governance policy
- Make sure to also plan a Change Management strategy
Getting a Head Start
Beyond the big software vendors and business specialists, it is also important to go beyond the usual considerations and appreciate new aspects in the building of an ideal Information System supporting a transformation project.
Many startups are introducing new solutions, with different approaches and technologies, to help companies face the IT issues of today. Getting ahead of the curve, innovating and testing allows companies to go beyond the usual boundaries and expand the scope of their strategy!
Article published in French news site LaTribune.fr by Alain Conrard, Prodware CEO
OPINION. Digital Transformation affects all industries and with it the nature of criminal activity. By Alain Conrard, President of the Commission on Digital Strategies of the METI, a professional guild of mid-market companies (METI) (*)
With the enormous power and capability that digital technologies bring in all areas, innovation also enables groups of individuals, operating as startups in “agile” mode to conduct targeted attacks on vulnerable individuals and organizations. Whether they act alone or on behalf of large criminal organizations, they know no limits in their hacking crusade with the entire planet as their playground.
Ransomware attacks, which lock their victims’ data and demand a ransom, paralyzing the activity of a large number of hospitals in the middle of a pandemic, have shown just how far cybercriminals can go to cripple businesses without the slightest qualm. Cybercrime comes in different shapes and sizes ranging from small-scale credit card scams, i.e. phishing scams all the way to state-sponsored cyberattacks to block another country’s infrastructure or influence a presidential election. The break-ins are almost seamless and smooth: no violence to speak of, it is all done very cunningly by infiltrating systems using recognition systems, identifiers, passwords, with the stealth of a fully digitized Ninja. Everybody today (companies, individuals, industries, administrations, organizations, government institutions, universities, public authorities, services, technological devices, etc.) is a potential target for cyber criminals.
Cybercrime is the act of overpowering people by attacking what is crucial both in the private and in public spheres i.e. data. Even though the attacks consist in blocking a system and not actually stealing data, it is a matter of preventing access to data, which is one of the major and most serious types of attacks faced by businesses: having no access to their data they simply cannot operate. Thus, cybercrime clearly underscores how valuable and pivotal data is, it is today’s new “black gold.” If data had no value, there would be no cybercriminals. Data has become a major economic phenomenon. It is therefore today one of the most important commodities. It is where an ever increasing proportion of crime is concentrated, in multiple forms.
In recent years, the problem has grown considerably. Cybercrime has been classified by the French government as one of the five major risks today along with the threat of terrorism, pandemics, technological and natural disasters. According to Guillaume Poupard, Director General of the French National Agency for Information Systems Security (Anssi), “tomorrow’s conflicts are going to be digital, and all the major states are preparing for it.
The Digital Jungle
New digital technologies have made for a much more global, open and transparent world where access to information is, in theory, much easier to come by. It is precisely this “openness” that has caused this new form of crime with access to networks and “free for all data” making cyber crime rank high up there.
This open society has a serious problem: it is open. How then should it deal with its borders without giving up on that openness, that specific quality that makes it so unique? This pivotal concern, that of sovereignty, has been brought to the forefront by the openness and transparency that is characteristic of the digitalization of the world. How can we defend a territory when it is under attack, and all the more so, when it is open, with borders that are hard to determine and sometimes even unknown? Cyber crime takes this problem to a whole new level where so much more is at stake in the rapport between innovation and going beyond the traditional frontiers.
Cybercrime is typically a new “Wild West,” a term that designated the unstable area resulting from territory expansion during those years of conquest of the American West. Beyond the frontier, we are no longer in a designated area established and ruled by law – we are in an area where everything has to be invented. This Far West 4.0 is a grey area where everything goes: you can decide to do business and make money, decide to hack, terrorize, steal and indulge in any other activity. Desperados and outlaws from all over the world see it as an Eldorado where they can easily prosper. And this is because regulators are lagging behind and struggling to grasp how to legislate on these still untapped territories. Although everyone uses weapons that does not mean they are all experts in weapon handling. These times where border crossing has become common practice, the question of sovereignty is still an issue that needs to be addressed. While innovation opens up new spaces and pushes beyond the barriers, it also, at the same time, allows for space appropriation including by those with criminal intent – and does so by using the same digital tools brought about by innovation.
Innovation brings with it a lot of uncertainty and risk. Progress is a concept that is not a one-way route, it can go both ways pushing forward and sometimes rolling back be it in very different proportions. Any kind of progress comes with a certain degree of regression as if any form of advancement has to come with a price.
Hence, cyber criminals are the flip side of digital technology. They are the ultimate in digital perversion leveraging technology for malicious and criminal purposes. Cyber crime is innovation related for sure and relates more specifically to new technologies. What is striking though is that this wrongdoing emanates from the technology itself. Tools that enable progress are the same that lead to regression.
Just as in the Wild West, where the sheriff and the outlaw with a price on his head both carry the same Colt revolver, today’s cybercrime shows that the means to commit wrongdoings and crime are the same. Whereas we use different means than the crimes themselves to fight “traditional” criminality (prostitution or racketeering are not used in the fight against prostitution or racketeering…), cybercrime and cybersecurity use the same means, the same technologies. A bit like if drugs were used to fight drugs. The identical means on both sides have created an unprecedented symmetry between criminals and defenders of the law. It all boils down to mastering digital technologies. In fact, it is because of this surprising symmetry that hackers, who are cybercriminals, are often hired by cybersecurity companies or by law enforcement. Despite this symmetry, criminals usually have the upper hand when it comes to weaponizing digital technology whereas their victims unsuspectingly use digital technology, oblivious to the potential flaws and weaknesses of the systems they use.
A ransomware attack on a hospital means infiltrating interconnected systems, machines, scanners (all this is innovation), an entire digital infrastructure grinding to a halt using a computer code i.e. another digital system: no difference in nature between the blocking mechanism and the system blocked. It is the intention that differs.
Viruses supporting viruses
The pandemic has spawned a massive wave of cyber attacks that can also be considered as a pandemic. SARS-CoV 2 is not the only dangerous virus out there. There are other viral systems also known as “malware”, “ransomware”, “spyware”, “trojan”, “worms”, “rootkit”, “backdoor”, and so on. These viral systems are proliferating and the pandemic may be a big part of the reason for the spike in malicious activity (do viruses actually help each other?), especially with remote work becoming the norm.
This makes systems more vulnerable to cybercrime, making employees who have had to adopt this remote work mode one of the weakest links in cybersecurity. Remote working expands the threat surface and increases the number of loopholes that cybercriminals can take advantage of to “reach” a company (“reach” of course has a double meaning suggesting “to access” and “to harm”). Indeed, each home office employee is a potential unprotected entry point to a network providing a major avenue for cybercriminals to commit cybercrimes. Resorting to social engineering (targeting employees, especially through social networks) is much easier than trying to exploit a network’s technical vulnerabilities. Trying to safeguard the online experience and journey of employees poses a serious challenge for CIOs. Also, “do’s and don’ts” and caution must be the new norm on networks as it is in real life especially when employees working remotely are becoming seasoned Internet users surfing more and more websites that may not necessarily be secure.
The remote work model definitely increases cybersecurity risks. Companies with strong CSR policies are the most likely targets for cybercrime. Indeed, company managers that resort to remote work expose themselves because the initiatives they engage in make it easy for cyber criminals to exploit the vulnerabilities that come with these initiatives. Be it because they want to transition towards an eco-friendly development strategy (employees not having to use transportation modes reducing the carbon footprint); or want to provide a better work environment (flexible work mode with some work from home and some in-person office presence); or looking to increase productivity without putting more strain on employees.
All-out War
Anyone can now be a target. The economic war is now heightened by another kind of war that can hit any company – ransomware attacks. Ransomware attacks are definitely on the rise. The average ransom demand, in exchange for a decryption key, has practically tripled in 2020. Businesses have to clearly understand and factor in that a war is being waged and that the fight is on. They will have to make sure they constantly adapt their defense mechanisms to the changing nature of attacks. This must now be an integral part of the business strategy set out every year because failing to do so can have very damaging consequences in terms of business, operations and the competition. (Cf. Chantelle which filed for bankruptcy after a cyber attack).
Cybersecurity has become key. Because of its undeniable impact, it is now making its way on the list of priorities of corporate boards and executive committees, just like digital transformation did.
However, protecting against cyber crime is a costly investment plan with no real hope of generating any financial gain per se. Unlike an insurance policy, that protects against potential liabilities and damages based on an agreement, cybersecurity is based on technology. And the acquisition of this technology, which can hardly be amortized in the long term, as it rapidly becomes obsolete with cybercriminals always one step ahead, makes it a particularly significant investment for a company.
This is the dark side of the all-digital world. Every innovation comes with a downside i.e. what it eliminates or destroys in order to replace it. But each innovation brings with it a new opportunity: the web for instance while decreasing in-store traffic also generates more business with the click & collect model and so on…Innovation in cybersecurity though is all one-way- there is no profit generating opportunity that comes out of it. Despite this exclusively non-business profit aspect, it needs to be addressed as a high-priority.
Now a mandatory item on the balance sheet of companies, it is a net expense with no positive counterpart except for security. While the technologies involved in digital transformation present an interest in that they bring progress, cybersecurity, which utilizes almost all of them, only brings a kind of awkward gain: a negative profit, a “better be safe than sorry” type of gain. It is a “just in case” investment.
There is a way to put a positive spin on this security narrative by considering it as an opportunity to run a massive and permanent testing scheme on a company’s defence systems. It helps bring the company’s weaknesses to the surface so that they can be addressed.
(*) By Alain Conrard, author of, “Taking the Plunge! A Different Take on Innovation” book published by Cent Mille Milliards, in September 2020 ; CEO of the Prodware Group and President of the de la Commission on Digital Strategies of the METI.
Article published in French news site Silicon by José María Sánchez, member of the Executive Committee at Prodware Group and Corporate Vice-President of Prodware Spain
For over a year now, organizations have been facing challenging and complex times in a world full of uncertainties. More than ever before, managers have had to deal with their daily responsibilities of having to make the right decisions quickly, in a very unusual context, while trying nevertheless to make sure these decisions align with the “world after the virus” strategy moving forward.
These extraordinary circumstances and the lack of experience in coping with such situations, plus the fear of not having enough cash flow, have triggered creative and intuitive business survival responses.
This shock has compelled decision makers to take a new and decisive look into investing in new technologies in order to remain competitive and stay in the game…this need to appreciate things differently came at the worst possible time and happened in the worst conditions. Indeed, while this kind of major overhaul is usually well thought through, it had to happen in emergency mode while keeping level-headed judgement. Moving forward in emergency mode without panicking while making the right decisions…like walking a tightrope!
The Great Acceleration Dynamic
This situation has put managers under pressure while also acting as a catalyst for change in business and working models. If innovation today means breaking down traditional barriers, the exceptional circumstances brought on by the pandemic have greatly accelerated this phenomenon.
In this radically different environment, every organization, business and manager has had to rethink the notion of competitiveness. Companies in certain industries were extremely concerned but it must be noted that across all industries the majority of businesses reacted by going digital. These exceptional circumstances have generated an intensive wave of transformation with an incredible turbo-boost effect in terms of speed of implementation and adoption. A game-changing difference though is that some digital channels have soared. The digital revamping of operational processes with partners, suppliers and customers has reinforced the need for transformation for all stakeholders across all industries.
This has led to journeying towards new frontiers of innovation where data has become the bedrock and new black gold of the whole transformation dynamic.
A Data Driven World
The power of digitalization in a data-driven world holds great promise but no one is really sure though what the potential consequences of this world of tomorrow could be.
We live in a world inundated with data, very large volumes of data coming from many different sources. For organizations, converting all this data into valuable insights is the cornerstone of a successful digital transformation. Data analytics provides incredible knowledge of the market making it possible for companies to embrace a new realm in business intelligence and automation.
Converting all that data into insights requires a structured process and data model – data coming from multiple sources needs to be captured and organized efficiently before being analyzed, interpreted and turned into decision-making material. Integrating the latest disruptive technologies with all software systems convert those systems into intelligent systems with great modelization capability for decision-making tools that can unleash powerful business forecasts.
Are we entering into a business model where business decisions will be made based only on the logic of data and modelization or will human intuition still have a say? In our opinion, they will be complementary – a combination of both intelligent and intuitive human experience with well-documented information. Bring all of this to a manager who will then be even better prepared to make a decisive strategic decision.
So how do we get a company to take advantage and leverage the world of data insights? The answer is to get the company to become a Data Driven Organization in an Innovation Environment.
As a first step into becoming that data driven organization we first need to determine and equate the type of data and data analytics with the key business priorities supporting the company’s strategy.
Then we move on to the mapping of those data sources and defining the right data integration model to merge all those data sets. And this that can sometimes be quite challenging. Indeed, after working with several companies on their data strategy we realized that data is actually like a living thing that changes and evolves in time. Sources vary, users’ needs change, life goes on…Therefore a secure governance strategy together with an agile implementation approach with ongoing performance and goal reviews is definitely the way forward rather than sticking with static and rigid objectives.
More than ever, relying on fate and luck is not an option. Innovation and disruption journeys need assets, resources and talent allocation. Human and financial resources are required to enter into this uncharted territory.
Changing Points of View
It all starts with an initial seamless process, changing the mindset of people, empowering them with when making new strategic decisions. These parameters will contribute to bringing those organizational changes that will foster a culture shift and data-insight approach moving away from less factual opinion-based decision making. But, breaking down the barriers of conventional business KPIs is not that easy, but as Aaron Levie (successful entrepreneur) says, “Start with the assumption that the best way to do something is not the way it is being done now.” Business evolutions are based on assumptions that eventually come into being. This is actually an opportunity and is part of the innovation/startup dynamic. Change management in the way we appreciate data and approach decision-making will be a definite eureka moment!
Another important factor that comes into play in our search for intelligence is Speed. A big part of gaining that competitive edge is about velocity and driving as many iterations as possible in short periods of time, to unleash that operational intelligence.
Converting data into actionable insights sometimes reveals trends and/or information that would probably continue to go unnoticed. These new insights bring together and underscore patterns that initially were not that obvious to decipher. But what is more interesting is that data can also provide insights into other characteristics such as soft skills, behaviors, potential fraud, brand awareness…
But one of the most valuable characteristics of intelligence in systems is the interpretation of the data i.e. the relevance of the information and the personalization that comes with it – indeed these insights bring personalization to a whole new level making it possible to address all stakeholders (customers, managers, suppliers, partners…) with very targeted messages.
And, last but not least, the notions of security and privacy have become pivotal in this transformation process, both being regarded as fundamental as ever. An updated and maintained Data Privacy Compliance program is required to support this data driven innovation leap into new uncharted territory.
Look to the future, explore the power of insights, make your system intelligent-ready and take the plunge! Break down the barriers to innovation.
Article published in French news site Silicon by Marc Lestienne, Deputy Chief Information Officer at Prodware
The rollout of an internal cyber security program is both a political and human project especially since 2021 saw a real surge in cyber attacks that still continue to soar.
Believing that a cyber security program is strictly an IT initiative and touches on the technical and technology aspects only is a major misconception. It is like thinking that the Coronavirus is a concern only for doctors and healthcare professionals.
In actual fact, beating the Covid-19 takes a collective effort: first the front-line health workers, then the politicians conducting operations and society as a whole embracing the momentum. Same thing for cyber crime. It is a threat that can only be thwarted collectively.
The rollout of an internal cyber security program is both a political and human project especially since 2021 saw a real surge in cyber attacks that still continue to soar.
Are CIOs and Epidemiologists fighting the same battle?
Very few users know this but remote working leaves businesses increasingly vulnerable to cyber attacks. What is worse is that even fewer users know how to protect against these attacks.
In the face of this growing threat, running a cybersecurity awareness campaign is essential. It helps explain the risks and dangers of this pandemic to all employees and make sure they understand what to do and not do to stay safe. An awareness campaign may be conducted in several ways: using videos, email blasts, game apps, quizzes…
Nevertheless, in order to reach out to as many employees as possible and get the most user buy-in, the campaign needs to be both instructive and fun but especially understood by all. Moreover, for it to be efficient and a real game-changer in people’s habits and usages it has to be planned as a long-term initiative.
Raising awareness, testing, addressing…does it ring a bell? I can even picture the CIOs in scrubs.
No Miracle Cure to Speak of but 3 Important Do’s
Political mobilization…
The most important challenge in a cybersecurity campaign is getting the message across to all the employees on how hacking works. We are not dealing with a strictly IT project per se. It is an all-inclusive group initiative that requires support and leadership on behalf of the HR and Communication departments right from the start in order to get everybody’s buy-in.
The key to building buy-in is all about people-readiness: from top management to all the rank-and- file employees with local management teams relaying and reinforcing the campaign. Without a clear call to action and deep understanding of what is at stake, an awareness campaign will do very little to change our habits and will surely not contribute to getting rid of the pandemic.
… raising awareness…
Relying on technical solutions and tools is not enough. To fight cyber crime you have to have all the employees understand the dangers and what is at stake. Building immunity to cyber attacks can only be achieved through awareness.
The awareness campaign is an efficient tool that works like a vaccine. It is instilled in people’s minds and triggers an immune response almost instantly with users knowing exactly what to do. To foster buy-in and efficiency an awareness campaign has to cater to your target population.
Hence, the first and certainly the most crucial step of such a program, consists in assessing one’s knowledge on information security. A questionnaire is usually used for this step.
The campaign can then be launched using several formats. Workshops could be set up for specific groups focusing on the specific threats they may encounter. Videos or a series of short video episodes for all employees can be used to explain the different risks and dangers (WAP, phishing, DDoS, cookies, etc.). Using videos is a very efficient, entertaining and intuitive way of illustrating and explaining the different risk factors that are usually intangible for us as users behind our computers.
And finally, this kind of campaign can be used to set up a competition between the countries of an international organization with game apps, as a way to generate more interest and engagement. Organizing such challenges or competitions is also a good way to measure the buy-in of employees and check if the awareness campaign and related programs are taken seriously.
… and setting up a long-term action plan
For a cybersecurity campaign to be efficient, it has to be thought through to last. The program has to be updated regularly, has to factor in the different training availabilities of employees and remain abreast of the various technological advances. Goals have been set in order to evaluate achievement. The coordinators of this program can therefore continue to support and promote training content to employees accordingly. Setting achievement goals year after year helps create a positive dynamic and a virtuous circle that in time will keep the pandemic at bay for good.
Working Toward Herd Immunity…
The goal therefore of a cybersecurity awareness campaign is twofold: trying to bring together all the employees in the long run and getting as much buy-in as possible. It is nothing more than conducting Change Management for all the employees of an organization bringing in all the stakeholders to take part in order to reach the Holy Grail of Cyber Safety: Herd Immunity.
Just like the Coronavirus, there may very well be the emergence of new strains. When it comes to hackers, it is impossible to uncover all the different tricks and ruses they can come up with because they are usually one step ahead of everyone.
The only way to keep safe in this technological wild west is to embrace the situation as an additional opportunity to break down the barriers of innovation.
The Covid-19 pandemic has strongly contributed to accelerating the evolution of the technical infrastructures of companies. A fast-paced digitization process, sometimes at breakneck speed, should not however overshadow two very important aspects which are: stability and agility. As the technological boundaries keep getting pushed back by the cloud, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and the Blockchain, companies need to be supported efficiently in their transformation, making sure their IT system materializes accordingly. Managed Services are gaining much more traction as a means to achieve these objectives of stability and agility.
The Cloud and Hybrid Models, New Boundaries and Challenges
Using the Cloud as the core component of the IT system of companies is nothing new and has been the norm for a couple of years, but Covid-19 has significantly accelerated this trend. The pandemic served as a catalyst in this transition especially when it came to setting up the infrastructure to allow remote working. This transition was not a smooth ride for the different teams, the IT department, and the business overall.
In a more or less natural way, a hybrid model based on an in-house (on premise) IT system has surfaced to which different Cloud peripherals have been added. In this volatile world, companies need to ensure that their IT operations are future-ready, stable, and agility enabled to meet the business challenges they will face.
IT Architecture at the Heart of Industry and Business Models
The ongoing process of adapting IT to technological and organizational challenges is pivotal when going digital. This is not just an IT related concern but a concern that needs to be appreciated at all levels of the organization. Industries are changing, new collaboration models are being introduced within and outside the company, the economic situation is volatile with the constant emergence of new technologies: change management is a long-term dynamic.
How do you keep a company together (its core business, entities and so on…) while gearing up your organization to lead it into the future? How do you make sure you cater to all the specifics of the different businesses while also providing and coordinating that cross-functional common denominator (CRM, logistics, etc.)? These fundamental questions, which place agility at all levels of the business, lie at the heart of the digital transformation strategies. While doing so they also need to drive and secure overall stability and provide maintenance that are just as critical. Agility does not come easy when you are trying to deliver best-in-class service for efficient, secure and reliable IT operations. The challenge is to make both sides of the coin work together, both in the short and long term.
Managed Services – the linchpin of Digital Transformation of businesses!
hree essential benefits: security, availability and performance.
Managed Services, as they are called, are designed to help measure these challenges converting the technical infrastructure into a key success factor. Having a qualified and trusted partner that provides customized offerings, a cost-effective budget with a whole host of managed services helps support the entire IT system from the deployment phase to maintenance right through the upgrades. IT teams can then focus on higher value-added tasks!
They also acutely support the different business needs, help take into account and manage the legal and regulatory changes to come, and help internal teams work towards new strategic missions.
How to Leverage Managed Services in Times of Crisis
With the sanitary crisis and all the restrictions that came with it, i.e. not allowed to go to coffee shops, hotels and restaurants, these businesses had to rethink the way they do business. Transforming one’s business into an “all-digital” model is not an easy thing to do. With the sales channel changing, it necessarily has an impact on the logistics and the relationship with customers. Internal tools like payroll management need to adapt to the remote working landscape. Managed Services help these customers focus on their core business while the different IT teams are tasked with overhauling, maintaining the IT system delivering an agility-enabled transformation project.
Another sector that has been greatly impacted by the Covid-19 crisis is the aeronautics industry. The core business of one of our customers was purely and simply interrupted for several months. While the company was rethinking its business strategy developing new revenue streams (in logistics and the transportation of masks and essential materials, for example), it had to ensure the sustainability of its IT system to stay in the game. Managed Services helped this customer be agility-ready and adapt his value proposition accordingly while benefitting from high-performance continuity of service that factor in the rapid internal changes.
Managed services bring tangible and efficient support to the transformation of an IT system. The maintenance of hybrid infrastructures and business applications should not hinder the ongoing evolution of the IT system…Wouldn’t it be the right time to accelerate digital transformation in complete confidence, with a cost-effective budget, and leverage the best applications and technical solutions on the market?
Awareness about cybercrime within organizations is still somewhat recent. Today, it is one of the fastest growing forms of crime worldwide.
Cybercrime has become more professional, especially with increasingly structured organizations that generate very significant revenues of up to: $1.5 trillion per year.
Cutting-edge cybercrime
Cybercriminals have developed a high level of expertise in the computer technologies we use everyday and know everything there is to know about their flaws. Their approach is obviously based on leveraging these flaws but above all, they resort to social engineering techniques to coax users into sharing confidential information.
They then gradually work themselves into the IT system and compromise the security of the entire organization. On average, SMBs and mid-market companies that are victims of cyber crimes have their operations stalled from 1 week to a whole month, their sensitive data exposed and suffer a financial loss of €200,000.
Companies have an obligation to protect their own data either by contract or because they are legally bound to do so. Data protection is a business imperative for both users and organizations and should be at the heart of a company’s strategy.
When hackers break into a company’s system, the consequences for that organization are often dramatic because the cyber criminals destroy, corrupt or steal personal or sensitive data (list of customers, pricelists, trade secrets) to either leverage that information or sell it on the Dark Web.
Their second source of revenue is cyber extortion which consists in conducting ransomware attacks on companies; they get hold of or threaten to destroy a company’s sensitive data including their data backups leaving these companies completely at the mercy of the hackers.
Beyond the damage caused and the ransoms sometimes paid out, cyber crime shows just how vulnerable and exposed these companies are and can also ruin their reputation.
Types of cyber crime
- Phishing: tactics include deceptive emails, websites, and text messages to steal information.
- Spear Phishing: email is used to carry out targeted attacks against individuals or businesses.
- Baiting: an online and physical social engineering attack that promises the victim a reward.
- Malware: victims are tricked into believing that malware is installed on their computer and that if they pay, the malware will be removed.
- Pretexting: uses false identity to trick victims into giving up information.
- Quid Pro Quo: relies on an exchange of information or service to convince the victim to act.
- Tailgating: relies on human trust to give the criminal physical access to a secure building or area.
- Vishing: urgent voice mails convince victims they need to act quickly to protect themselves from arrest or other risk.
- Water-Holing: an advanced social engineering attack that infects both a website and its visitors with malware.
How to protect against cyber crimes?
Cyber Security strategies usually stem from an Information Systems Security Policy (ISSP), which is the equivalent of a “Master Plan” in terms of IT security. It is, in principle, implemented by the Information Systems Security Manager (ISSM) who defines the goals aimed for as well as the different means and techniques that will be used. Here are some examples:
- Antimalware & MDM (Mobile Device Management): This first level of protection is essential. Antimalware or MDM solutions such as Windows Defender, Trend or Microsoft Intunes secure and control corporate or personal terminals and thus allow the effective application of a global security policy of the “Conditional Access” type, possibly based on MFA (MultiFactor Authentication) and other criteria such as connection times and locations for example.
- Least privilege and Separation of duties: The administrator accounts manage all of the company’s strategic IT assets: on premise or Cloud, hardware or software. As a result, these accounts, which oversee the corporate directory, must comply with certain best practices such as complex and renewed passwords, multi-factor authentication, segregation of duties and the principle of least privilege.
- Cyber awareness program: To help build a culture of security in the workplace and foster a sustainable change in behavior on these issues. An internal security awareness campaign must be run to get all the company employees onboard. It is the sine qua non for significantly reducing user-generated risk.
- IT Charter: An IT charter also ties into the ISSP. It outlines the rights and obligations of users with regard to the Information System.
Cybercrime poses a real threat to businesses today. Businesses are stepping up the fight against cyber crime.
Hackers, unfortunately, like dopers in sports, are often one step ahead of the game. Nevertheless, we know more about the way they operate today. We can do much more to reduce the risks by staying organized and using the appropriate technologies to combat cyber crime.
With an efficient cybersecurity policy, companies can fend off cyber attackers and not fall prey to their scams and online fraud.
Whether you are a CX professional or trying to become more aware of the experience being delivered to your customers, these five practical tips will surely be a great source for kickstarting a CX program!
Essential points for starting a CX initiative
A CX initiative can have several different initiation points, but in all cases, it needs to start with the conviction that customer experience is the key to keep the company in line with market expectation and customer needs. This goes first through a management buy-in and a CX programme clearly defining the goals and KPIs that will be used to measure the process.
Once the base is in place, the first step would be to select the right tracks by running a CX maturity assessment. This part of the process should help in detecting the areas where the organization needs to invest its efforts in order to progress towards the development of a customer-centric DNA.
Keeping the organizational structure in mind
Every business needs a dedicated CX team to manage the practices needed for the CX program operation. However, the team should only handle and use the right methodology, not be the owner of the action items.
The Product/Service managers are the ones that need to take responsibility, monitor the execution, and refine the journey in predefined milestones. On the program execution level, it is required to have a CX committee that will oversee the progress of the program, break the organizational silos, by arbitrating disputes when conflicts arise.
Lining up the CX strategy and business goals
A CX strategy is an approach that comes as support to the business goals of the company. Since companies exist to make a profit, there needs to be a clear understanding of the way the improvement in customer experience will contribute to the achievement of positive business results.
From a practical perspective, after the journey mapping exercise is over, and we go into the execution phase, it is necessary to start measuring the predefined KPIs. This action will allow for estimating the impact that the CX actions have on the improvement of customer satisfaction, as well as on the bottom-line results (revenue/profit). Popular CX metrics are CSAT, NPS, CES along with traditional business metrics such as EBITDA, conversion rate, SLA, and others.
Continuous refinement for a strong program
Most organizations fail when running CX initiatives because they abandon the program after the initial work has been conducted. I would argue that quite the opposite is imperative. Running a CX program requires continuous refinement of the customer journeys and action plans if one wants to be in line with market trends and customer expectations. The best way to keep a CX program alive is to invest in the development of a customer-centric DNA that will become like second nature for employees, integrated into their daily way of working.
Final points to focus on when building CX engagement
If organizations want to deploy a successful CX strategy, they should focus on repetitive operations when building the CX engagement. To start creating CX awareness, you can easily deploy a project on a small scale with a group of “CX believers”, share the impact and benefits, and then expand at a larger scale to the rest of the organization. In this way, you get to establish a successful CX program that maximizes the impact of customer-centricity on the daily operations of the business and its KPIs.
Article published in French news site Economie Matin by Alain Conrard, Prodware CEO
The culture of innovation relies, in large part, on the positive appreciation of disruption and distortion.
With the fourth industrial revolution, the one we are in today, i.e. digital transformation, we have ushered into a system where much of what made us strong yesterday is precisely what is weakening us today. While innovation does push back the boundaries of things and places, it also changes the meaning of words. And such a change in meaning can be seen in this one specific word, a term that has become one of the key words of the digital revolution: the term is “experience.”
The meaning of “experience” used to allude to the industrial sector (a good employee needed to have experience), whereas the term now almost exclusively refers to the heart & soul of the shopping process (the consumer lives the experience of getting acquainted and engaging with a brand or product).
Experience: it is all about meaning
It was an old word. It suggested long periods of time, painstaking work and effort, gaining mastery in a manual skill or in decision making all garnered over a significant period of time: working consisted in acquiring experience. And “having experience” meant having spent the required time doing, redoing and excelling in a skill. Experience was a guarantee: a guarantee that a person who has spent a certain amount of time in a given field or practice was much more well- versed than someone who did not. Experience is what sets apart a qualified worker from an apprentice: an apprentice acquires experience. What is a CV (which literally means a “course of life”) if not a document certifying the experience one has acquired? Experience was perceived as a positive professional timeline: the time it took to acquire, soak in and hone one’s skills to perfection.
For a very long time therefore, we have appreciated experience as a basic logical equation stipulating that more and more experience equals better performance and efficiency. Well that is no longer true! Experience, as a metric for professional proficiency developed over time, which was a person’s track record and represented their potential value on the market for a given position, is nowadays not the only performance metric around. In fact, experience, like other acquired skills, is even likely in certain fields, to be a disadvantage for the person looking to leverage that experience. In today’s society where innovation has become this permanent dynamic, praising change as an imperative need, experience is synonym for ‘traditional’ or ‘immobility’: it suggests something of the past. Of course, in certain fields experience is here to stay and cannot be replaced: i.e. in the medical field, in surgery or management for instance. But many of what used to be bastions of human experience are being challenged by the outstanding performance levels of robotics and machinery. This suggesting that a new form of cooperation, unheard of before, is to be expected in the future – and likely beneficial if well orchestrated – between experience and creativity, i.e. between tradition and creation.
Nevertheless, experience is at the heart of the innovation dynamic. It is even one of the key notions. But in actual fact it is not the same experience we are referring to. Experience today, far from the old meaning, refers largely to a sense of astonishment and discovery. The evolution of the word even goes as far as depicting the true nature and philosophy of what innovation is. The term describing the perfect execution of a habit and acquired know-how, has become one of the main innovation markers now describing the utmost in novelty and in embracing the unprecedented. The term is to be understood as the way we feel things: experience as an empirical proof of sensation. Where experience once meant putting in the hours, practicing over and over, in order to perfect a manual skill as smoothly as possible, it is now akin to the meaning of ‘causing turbulence.’ Today, it is all about providing a stellar consumer journey when engaging with a brand or product (digital contents, stores, events, technical support…): navigating smoothly and easily so that satisfaction, a criterion that is constantly measured, is at its best.
The two meanings of experience refer to a journey but two different kinds of journeys: one relates to giving up one’s immaculate slate for a lifelong skill building itinerary and the other is a shopping spree where you actually need to embark with a clean slate for a wild and unexpected ride.
Before, you acquired experience and today, you live an experience. It used to be about knowledge (or know-how); it is now all about emotion.
Consumer experience: a journey full of surprises
What we call experience today is not about reproducing one’s skill set indefinitely but it is the exact opposite: it is the “wow effect” of novelty. It is the sensual encounter between a consumer and a product or service at every touchpoint of the brand’s customer journey. By definition, that same experience cannot be reproduced indefinitely and needs to be enhanced and “rejuvenated” lest the product or service gets perceived as “passé.” Indeed, every user experience needs to be reinvented to reignite that magical effect of the product or service. And this is required even if the innovation at hand is not disruptive but stems from incremental and continuous improvements.
Thus, the resulting user experience that a brand provides its customers, through its products and services, is an ever more omni-sensory journey. The consumer experience is actually thought up as an actual journey (Customer Experience Journey), a highly emotional journey with every step of the way having to be memorable. This “customer journey” applies both to in-person shopping experiences (brick-and-mortar stores) and online shopping experiences (posting content across its different communication channels and touchpoints: websites, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, blogs, and so on).
It is like engaging a “first-time” customer in a way, because the “wow” effect can only work with new encounters. Being able to renew the user experience comes down to exposing the customer to novelty, refreshing his journey, i.e. emotionally engaging the customer with content, products or services provided by a brand.
This new meaning of the word “experience” has taken over the central notion or idea of usage. And this shift, for a large part, is to be applauded because it contributes to putting the human being at the heart of the innovation dynamic.
Emotionally engaging your customers: the most rational choice
We have finally realized that economic players are not just rational beings behaving coldly and perfunctorily, but people with feelings. Introducing the Consumer Experience at the core of the economic model changes everything irreversibly. Experience, now being the main and most important focus, underscores that the most reliable economic trigger is emotion. So being realistic today means trusting a once, very unstable criterion, upon which to establish a commercial approach.
The emotion felt or experienced by a consumer is a way for a brand to develop brand stickiness. The challenge for manufacturers is to figure out the right customer-centric strategy that will generate and drive that emotion. It is all about the 4 “Es”: Experience (a memorable journey at every touchpoint), Emotion (the “wow” effect that the brand delivers), Engagement (consumers feel understood & relate to the brand), Exclusiveness (consumers feel special). Because consumers are spoiled, informed, sometimes too informed, swamped with information – and are easily jaded as a result –, they now call the shots and switch from brand to brand as they please. Customer loyalty is therefore hard to come by. You need to captivate to convince; and drawing their attention is becoming even more challenging with the increasing number of offerings and services of all kinds cropping up everywhere. Now, more than ever, manufacturers need to foster and develop a very strong relationship with each of their existing and potential customers. Only a stellar and unique experience can help tip the scale. Moreover, all things being equal, a unique customer experience drives more business. The challenge is even greater in an era where time is no longer a linear concept, where work and personal life are more and more intertwined with all our traditional bearings becoming increasingly fickle.
Maximizing the customer journey and experience is pivotal in developing customer loyalty. Providing a unique experience and delivering on your brand promise, way beyond the expected market standard, is the linchpin of consumer satisfaction. Consumer satisfaction must be guaranteed across the entire buy-in cycle from the discover phase to the loyalty phase. We know that emotionally engaged consumers are more loyal to a brand and are likely to become advocates enthusiastically promoting the brand. The tools and the talent are available to reach this objective. Willpower does the rest.
Emotion is one of the most powerful triggers of a human being and leveraging that aspect with a consumer experience strategy is perfectly rational from an economic standpoint. So kidding aside, let’s take emotions seriously.