The Superior Technology Always Wins !

Irrespective of function, you may have observed that planning and analytics solutions that have been around for a while have taken two different paths of “transformation”. They have either become “AI-enabled” solutions or have downplayed the disruptive potential of AI on their solutions portfolio.

These attempts remind me of examples I once read in an HBR article of how some companies try to respond to superior technologies by desperately trying to, and in many cases succeding to, improve their existing technology. But that could not change their eventual fate.

Advent of digital word processors is a good example in this context. When digital word processors emerged, electric typewriter manufacturers responded by making mass-market machines that were performance-laden with features like spell checking, full-line erasing, and multiple fonts.

Similarly, when digital cameras arrived, chemical-film photography firms responded by developing the Advanced Photo System (APS). APS improved print quality and introduced many new features like multiple picture formats and index prints.

But the fact is, all this just delays the inevitable.

The superior technology always wins in the end.

Those who try to delay the inevitable often waste precious resources and damage their companies’ future prospects to stay relevant.

The Gameplan to Face The Obvious

When quartz watches were introduced, manufacturers could either switch to quartz or improve the price and performance of mechanical watches. Then, many realized that there is a segment that prefers mechanical watches, and they could expand this segment. Unfortunately, with planning and analytics technologies, no such segment will exist. The only feasible approach is to embrace the superiorness of the new technology and then devise a game plan accordingly. But you also have an advantage when you have a software technology product. Total transformation to align with the new technology is feasible.

And the first step for that is to retreat from the current solution. This is the challenging part. What does the word “retreat” even mean in this scenario? How can you just walk out from decades and decades of the market that you have built? Even though you are losing market share, you are still making significant revenue. Yes, your technology will eventually become defunct, but if you walk out, you lose many more years of revenue to come.

“Retreat” in this case is not walking away from the market. What I like to call “Retreat Gameplan”, is essentially a four step strategy:

• Envision, if your technology were to be what the emerging “threat” technology is like. Break this vision into components, of modules and features.
• Align these future modules, features, and functionalities with the current ones. There may be no or little alignment, but you need to map every existing category to a future one.
• Devise a phased roadmap to upgrade the features, functionalities, and modules, one at a time, to the end state of a totally new product.
• Aggressively socialize the transformation roadmap with your existing market to highlight that you have a good grasp of tech advances, embrace the tech advances, and have the vision to get there soon. Build some future state scenarios with your key customers to highlight how they will benefit as your solution progresses on the roadmap.

The Sooner The Better

Waiting is futile since the new technology is evolving into something newer. The longer you delay your retreat gameplay, the more challenging it will be to build the transformation roadmap as well as to execute that roadmap. Also, if you offer a suite of products and there is this one specific planning solution among that suite that is behind the curve, it may be dragging your entire portfolio down. The time to start strategizing was yesterday!