Businesses have more access to data today than ever before. Cloud computing, the Internet of Things, and Internet 4.0 are making amazing things possible in today’s business landscape. But, most experts feel that what’s been accomplished thus far is only a fraction of our potential for innovation. As a result, there’s been a growing movement to democratize innovation via business ecosystems. Companies with business ecosystems are in a unique position. They can leverage those ecosystems to innovate at a faster pace than their competition. Today, we’re going to discuss how these businesses can harness their true innovation potential through democratization. …
Tag: Innovation
Speed to Value Executive teams across all industries are using digital technologies like Robotic Process Automation (RPA) for greater innovation, business transformation, operational efficiency, and speed to value—and intelligent automation is proven to be the shortest path to success. In this episode, Chris Hood is joined by Neeraj Gokhale from Automation Anywhere and Vikas Anand from Google Cloud to discuss how the two companies are partnering to speed value creation for every enterprise using intelligent automation. The team will share how Automation Anywhere’s RPA platform, Google’s Apigee API platform, and associated Google Cloud technologies like Google AI can transform customer …
As UX and business strategies collide, experiences become more complex. Some have even said that over a quarter of large enterprise apps will be multiexperience by the year 2023. But why is that important, and what do you get for embracing that? This article will help you understand what multiexperience is, why it is important and how you can apply it to your business. So, read on to learn about why multiexperience is the future of customer journeys and business value. What Is Multiexperience? Multiexperience refers to the various combinations of modalities (e.g., touch, voice, and gesture), devices, and apps that users interact …
Despite innovation itself being very difficult to measure, we should still aim to foster a culture of innovation where we work. One of the issues with this, though, is the question of how to do that and what to do with it once you have it. Lucky for you, people have already answered some of these questions. This article will help you understand what a culture of innovation is, what its benefits are, and what you need to foster one. By the end, you should be able to help your company create such a culture and in doing so lead it to …
Many of Google’s best ideas begin as experiments or passion projects in Area 120, Google’s in-house incubator. At Google Cloud, leaders often ask for practical lessons for empowering large distributed workforces to find, fund, grow, measure, and launch new product innovations that drive business and customer value. In this five-part podcast Digital Master Class series designed for technology leaders, we set out to ‘open-source’ Google’s lessons learned on growing cultures of innovation, setting 10x product visions, driving organizational transformation, and leading people through the art of the possible. We’ve bottled these insights into practical and actionable learnings to support your …
Now, more than ever, there is an urgency to incorporate diversity and inclusion into every aspect of your organization. Not only because it enhances your ability to be responsive to users and customers, but because it builds trust and a sense of belonging for your employees. Companies have seen massive amounts of change in the past few months. As operations return to capacity, innovation will be vital to accelerating transformation and preventing future disruptions. This is achieved across your organization’s people, processes, data, and technology. In this episode, Chris Hood joins Bella Bardswell and Finn Toner to take an inside …
When you think about a successful company, what do you see? Visionary growth? An in-depth understanding of the industry’s market? A company with a strategy that encompasses not only the technological standpoint but also the cultural standpoint? Yes! All of these make a company great, but something else sets thriving companies apart from those who aren’t doing as well. An innovative culture. A company that fosters a culture of innovation is sure to have continued success for the years that they are in business. If you are looking for more information on how to create a culture of innovation, then …
Customers today are more different than ever before, and their expectations shift quickly. This is where customer transformation begins. The modern consumer is more digitally savvy. They also spend their money on items that matter and toward businesses they want to support. But these are facts that the average business already knows. The question is, how can you use this to your advantage? Businesses have previously been told to adopt a digital transformation plan. However, you should look into a customer transformation strategy for the best results. That’s because your customers have more power than you think. But what does …
Our recent CIO survey with Oxford Economics contained a few takeaways that stood out to me: most companies are using API-first strategies, and those most committed to this concept report faster innovation and greater value from business partnerships. Even so, the survey indicates that a healthy minority of enterprises still think of APIs in integration-first terms. This mindset can block these organizations from many of today’s most important business opportunities and impede their ability to adapt to new opportunities that may emerge in the future. Being API-first means anticipating that an API may have many use cases and enable numerous business opportunities. …
I spent some time with Joel Ward this week discussing strategy, technology, and customer experiences. We covered some great topics around developing technology that meets your customer expectations and building a culture within your organization to support rapid innovation. From startups to enterprises, have a listen and let me know what you think. Available on iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/interview-with-chris-hood-google-cloud-strategist/id1552711906?i=1000533406036 or listen here: …
This week, Google Cloud focuses on retail by sharing a series of podcasts that takes a closer look into how cloud technologies have shaped the retail industry over the last year. In this series, you’ll hear real-life lessons from the industry’s best. These honest conversations will provide insights to help you, wherever you are, in your transformation journey. Our Retail Takeover features a series of conversations with leading brands and retailers where we dig a little deeper into what it’s like to be a leader in today’s landscape. Listen to additional episodes featuring Ulta, Albertsons, Crate & Barrel, and Zulily. …
It's no secret that most businesses are scared of failure. They spend time trying to avoid mistakes at all costs, even if it means not taking risks or driving innovation. But suppose you want your business to grow and be successful in the future. In that case, you have to learn how to embrace failure as a part of the process, especially since disruption and change can happen at any moment. …
To remain relevant in today’s customer-centric marketplace, organizations must possess the ability to scale applications globally, and provide the intelligence and personalization their customers have become accustomed to. …
To drive modernization and innovation, enterprises are increasingly adopting API-first approaches to connecting services across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. APIs and Clouds are everywhere today and hybrid API management gives you the flexibility to deploy your API runtimes anywhere that meets your business needs. In this episode, we are joined by Parna Bhattacharya, Head of Customer Success in APAC and Bala Kasiviswanathan, Director of Product Management, to discuss how enterprises are increasingly adopting an API-First strategy that connects services across hybrid and multi-cloud environments to help develop consumer experiences faster. Host: Chris Hood – Head of Business Innovation & Strategy, Google …
APIs are the backbone of digital transformation, and they are essential for business innovation. With APIs, you can securely share data and functionality with developers both inside and outside of your organizational boundaries, letting you build applications faster, seamlessly connect and interact with partners, and drive new business revenue. APIs are a force, that surrounds us daily in everything we do. In this episode, Warren Chuei shares with us insights on building a culture of open innovation and the importance of looking from the outside-in so innovation can have a massive impact on strategic objectives for your business. To remain …
Today, retail customers have more #digital-first, convenient ways of shopping than ever before. And APIs are one of the critical pieces of #technology that have made this possible by giving retailers the ability to transform their systems and processes in an efficient and quick way. …
In 2020, virtually all industries, from retail and manufacturing to finance and hospitality, shifted how they do business. The uniting trait across all of them? A sharpened, more urgent focus on digital maturity and an API Economy. In fact, according to our new report, 75% of companies continued focusing on their digital transformation initiatives, despite all the disruptions, and almost two-thirds of those companies actually increased their investments and efforts. APIs replace incompatibilities created by different platforms by enabling once separate software components to communicate by allowing customer-facing, customizable interfaces. APIs have significantly increased connectivity and data exchange. Every day, …
Product teams often serve as the nexus between all organizational units within a company, but often lose sight of developing API Products to ensure that cross-functional alignment drives success. At their most empowered, product owners are like miniature CEOs for each offering within a company. In my time as a digital consultant, I’ve seen one particular technology too often dismissed as back-office minutiae — application programming interfaces, or API Products. APIs are the glue that binds a company’s resources together and the mechanisms through which an enterprise’s data, functionality, and other digital assets are accessed and distributed. They enable software systems …
In my experience as a digital consultant for Google Cloud’s Apigee team, I’ve found that when a technology gets classified as “middleware,” it’s often encumbered with a scarlet letter of sorts. Business leaders find it unexciting — so much so that they often resign it to the purview of technology professionals and don’t spare a second thinking about it. Those technology professionals, meanwhile, sometimes recognize that “middleware” can be a misnomer, but may see technologies in this category as little more than bland mechanisms for integrating applications. Bluntly, “middleware” technologies are too often regarded as a dull back-office necessity and …
Content development is not as scary as it may sound. In fact developing unique content to be used online is much easier than you’d expect. As you’ve probably heard, ‘content is king,’ and the seemingly endless need for fresh content is a demand facing everyone with an internet presence. This need is particularly true if you have an online business that you want to grow. Here are 3 easy steps you can use to locate, develop, and distribute any content online. Search for content to write about Your first step is to located sources of information to gather and organize …
In e-commerce, shopping cart abandonment is ubiquitous. A meta-analysis conducted by the Baymard Institute found that about 70 percent of all online shopping carts are abandoned. Chris Hood discussed this issue along with several ideas around what to do about it with Joni Sweet at NCR Silver. “If you’re able to capture their email, you can also send them a message and ask why they abandoned the cart. Offer them a 20 percent discount for completing the survey. That way, you’re incentivizing them to give you the information you need and it might turn into a sale.” If you do …
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