Real-world examples: Why it’s critical to transform and embrace new technology
1. Real-world examples: Why it’s critical to transform and embrace new technology
As the world and business change, keeping technology the same instead of being open to transforming is risky for an organization. Let’s illustrate this by looking at two examples: one embraces new technology and uses it to their advantage, and the other doesn’t. First up is Nintendo. Nintendo has been creating games since 1889! They started with traditional Japanese playing cards, called Hanafuda, which were made possible by the printing press. From there, they have consistently used new technology to transform their business, and become a leader in the gaming industry. They were even among the first to introduce gaming consoles and mobile gaming devices. Still, they didn’t just stop after these successes. Instead, they revolutionized mobile gaming when they launched Pokemon Go in 2016, and then the first cloud gaming console—Nintendo Switch—one year later in 2017. At a time when most of their competitors were failing, Nintendo transformed by using one new technology after the next, consistently maintaining and even expanding its market share and customer base along the way. More recently, Nintendo has been using Google Cloud to bring games to smartphones worldwide. So, what makes Nintendo so successful at transforming? The answer is that they consistently focus on “why” they exist, not “how” they operate. They exist because they want people to play, and naturally, they’ll use any new technology as a resource to achieve this mission. If they focused on liquid crystal displays as the best tool for gaming, then each new technology would have posed a threat to them. Instead, they utilized liquid crystal displays for a while, and then quickly shifted as the next technology became available to continue motivating people to play. By contrast, companies that sold encyclopedias, for example, all focused on “how” they operate (how to print and sell a specific set of books). And this was what they were proud of: a beautiful set of leather-bound books lined up on the shelves of the finest libraries. And because of their high cost, only a few scholars or the elite could afford them. For businesses that made and sold encyclopedias, they needed printing presses well-kept warehouses, bookshelf makers, a way to ship and receive heavy containers, and a good door-to-door selling model. These companies were so focused on manufacturing books that they lost sight of their initial mission: to capture, catalog, and share human knowledge. When new technology such as CD-ROMs became available, this short-term mindset led many of the original encyclopedia companies to view the technology as a threat to their business instead of an opportunity. Ironically, many of the CD-ROM-based encyclopedia providers made the exact same mistake, and were later overtaken by by cloud-based applications such as Wikipedia or traditional encyclopedia companies, such as Britannica, which moved online. Nintendo and encyclopedia companies were both born from the printing era; Nintendo began with traditional playing cards, and encyclopedias stemmed from hard copy books. Because they reacted to technological innovations differently, they experienced different outcomes. The reality is that digital transformation is an ongoing process, not a one-time effort. Today, countless industries around the world are disrupted by digitalization: from healthcare to entertainment, from retail to manufacturing. It's critical that organizations embrace new technology as an opportunity to evolve, serve their customers better, and gain a competitive advantage. This is where cloud computing plays a significant role.2. Let's practice!
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