Computing has surprised us all. Or, this thing we didn’t even know existed. Software, mobile phones and information/data networks have brought us together in new and unexpected ways. A changed and new reality has emerged as a result of the technological and service development over the course of the past ten years. The phenomena of platform economies and distributed economies are examples of this.
Technology accelerates the birth of new innovations. Consumers rejoice with casual chores becoming more effortless, often improved service experiences. New service providers enter the markets when new, inventive and price-competitive solutions become available to meet customer needs. Also entirely new services are generated through technology. Services to meet customer needs we had never even imagined.
The evolution has its downside. Both terrorism and refugee waves are catalyzed by social media, which is used both for leading and thus also moving global human masses. This phenomenon would not exist, to this extent, without the simultaneous strong development of social media, terminal equipment and information/data networks.
The European-wide rise in political populism is yet another simultaneous example. I don’t think this is a coincidence. I claim that these social phenomena are driven by the same development that revolutionizes economic structures, for example through network-based value production. The birth of networks offers the same exponential surprise as the development of technology in general. The more members a network has, the higher is the network’s value for its members. This, in turn, creates a raw playoff where some win and gain strength and others end up losing.
The last ten years have taught us that the change caused by the technological development is affecting us in many ways. Realizing, that we have all been thrown into this centrifuge of change, be it as individuals, communities and businesses, or even as nations, is frightening. The change is not linear and cannot be predicted. But preparing for it is possible.
What more, it can also be harnessed for our own benefit. This is not an easy task, but requires organizations to make significant cultural changes. The communities and businesses capable of regenerating and innovating will stand out.
For a few years now Gofore has addressed our services to meet all the needs the digital change in organizations with create. In my mind, I have divided this into three different changes in culture.
- The culture of leadership or, on a more general note, the corporate culture at its best, inspiring the entire staff to work towards commonly set goals. A good corporate culture maximizes the organization’s ability to regenerate and search for a common direction. The success of companies such as Gofore, and proven producing of customer value, is entirely dependent on corporate culture. Currently we are also, through our Lead services, assisting other organizations in shaping and changing their corporate culture.
- The culture of development has its perspective in the future. The best organizations are able to link development work directly to their strategic business planning. Services are formulated on a business-driven basis and with constant focus on user experience, iteratively, progressing step by step. and gathering experiences. Developing is agile and utilizes the best technologies and practices, with the expertise of professionals. Our Design and Build services meet these needs.
- The culture of maintenance is the third equally important point of view. The capability of change is not sufficient, if the services cannot quickly and reliably be put into production. Cloud Services and –infra, Devops -practices, and seamless linking of maintenance processes to development and, consequently, management processes, are the special know-how of our Cloud service.
The pace of change in society and in business is mind-blowing. This is evident in our company, but the same enthusiasm and desire for novelty also exists within our customer base. We are experiencing interesting times. Change, which it is great to be a part of.
Blog series “Digital Companion”
With this text Timur Kärki introduces a new blog series “Digital Companion”. In the series, Gofore’s expert services managers explain how digitalization turns from festive speeches into actions. Change is accelerating exponentially right now. In this change, organizations require assistance with project management, leadership, service design, graphic design, programming and data analysis. This – and as a cherry on the top cloud infrastructure management – can all be provided by Gofore.
Other posts in the blog series:
- Ville Tuominen: How design helps create value – for all stakeholders
- Mikael Nylund: Renewability required in a time of changes
