Getting redefined

A highlight of this week was a discussion on business and technology with Daniel Burrus, a US-based business strategist with a reputation for accurately predicting technological change.

One of the most interesting messages Burrus plans to bring to local business leaders when he visits SA next month is that business needs to use technology to redefine the way it competes.

In other words, technology alone is not enough; it`s what companies do with technology that counts and has the potential to set them apart. This is what Burrus calls "higher technology".

It`s about whether technology is applied successfully and positively or not. Burrus says technology users have the choice of using it for good or bad. The technology itself, or the tool it enables, is neutral.

Success requires an active engagement with technology and a desire to bring about a positive result. Consequently, when technology is acquired or supplied without sufficient active engagement, projects tend to fail.

The technology itself, or the tool it enables, is neutral.

Warwick Ashford, portals managing editor, ITWeb

However, in Africa, this vital element is often missing because of a lack of skills, knowledge, or resources. A room full of PCs is pretty useless if there is no electricity supply, which is common in many rural areas of SA and elsewhere in the continent. Once again, technology alone is not enough.

For most companies, a switch to a higher-tech approach will require a change in the way they think about technology. As I understand it, this involves thinking beyond the obvious application of any given technology.

Rather than competing in the usual way on things like time, price and quality, Burrus says business should use technology to add new areas of competition. For example, in the late 1980s, restaurants began redefining they way they competed on time.

The basic wireless technology of paging devices was put to new use to create a competitive-edge. Instead of having to wait around in queues, for the first time patrons could do other things until they were notified by a simple wireless device that a table was ready.

A similar strategy has been adopted by some medical practices to reduce waiting room congestion. Maybe I should have a chat with my GP. Instead of spending an hour or more browsing through trashy magazines, I could be attending to other business in the area.

In other words, technology presents business with opportunities to do things that were impossible before. Recognising and managing these opportunities for new competitive advantage should therefore be a key function of business leaders.

Keeping an eye on new technology is only part of this process; business also has to factor in what Burrus calls "change accelerators". Increasing bandwidth, storage capacity and processing power are the main change accelerators he sees affecting business for the next five years.

With this knowledge and perspective, Burrus believes anyone can unlock the enormous, and effectively untapped, power of technology.

Therefore, given the unique challenges we face in Africa, it would seem the time has come for business and government to begin thinking laterally about technology and capitalising on the accelerators of change.

They need to get real about redefining the way they compete and learn now to exploit new and emerging technology and the forces that drive it for the benefit of all.