Tech giants are investing in digital transformation: you should too
This was a week marked by two huge tech acquisitions. Google is buying data analytics company Looker for $2.6 billion in a move to bolster their cloud computing offering – and keep up with their rivals. This comes off the back of another major transaction; Salesforce will acquire Tableau, an analytics platform which specializes in interactive data visualization. Digital transformation is firmly here — it’s not just for early adopters, startups or the technologically curious.
It’s been cemented as the only viable strategy, allowing organizations to create the digital experiences that customers demand. You might be asking: what do a couple of big acquisitions have to do with me? Stick with us — there’s a lot to learn here.
The future of digital transformation is less complexity, not more
You could look at the Looker and Tableau acquisitions as a big good riddance to the complexity of data – both companies aim to make data more palatable for the people who have to wrestle it into tables and graphs every day. Digital transformation doesn’t start with incoherent technology, nor does it start with complexity — despite what LinkedIn “digital transformation consultants” would like you to think.
Tom Wentworth, SVP of Product Marketing for Acquia, said it best:
“Vendors do need to simplify our products to help customers get to value faster. The future of web content management is less complexity, not more.”
We’re in firm agreement. Contentful isn’t about wowing you with some new tech that your people will inevitably struggle with from day one. Instead, we’re offering a CMS that is agile, extensible, structured and unified. There’s no jumping back and forth between multiple CMSes to deliver your different digital products, just a single authoring hub and a creator workflow that makes sense.
Our goal is to burst the complexity bubble of monolithic CMSes.
Invest in digital strategy, not just new tools
The new standard of digital transformation is not asking “What are the latest and greatest tools?” to add to the tech stack – but instead asking “What best serves my business strategy?”. This week’s investment proves that no company can reap the benefits of new tech without putting their business strategy first.
So, what are you doing to invest in your business strategy? Sure, we’re a little biased, but the answer should be digital transformation and an emphasis on your digital experiences. With Contentful, you’re doing both – we’re not just another headless CMS. We’re an investment that enables you to build better digital experiences, and to create, store, manage and deliver content to them — seamlessly.
Invest in content operations
Any good content operations strategy starts with data. Both Looker and Tableau are content operations tools for enterprises to grow their businesses off the back of data-driven decisions. Tableau is interesting in this regard because it’s also a workflow tool; it makes understanding data easier for anyone — no degree in data science or mathematics required.
The message from Google and Salesforce is clear: they’re thinking about how to help their customers with their content operations, and they’re hoping to make people’s workflows easier. Those are two things that are big on our agenda too.
Customer acquisition only goes so far –– what comes next?
You’re investing in customer acquisition, but are you also investing in the experience of your customer after they’ve signed on the dotted line? Investing in a data lake is all well and good, but are you leveraging that to deliver personalized experiences? Digital is no longer just a customer acquisition channel. Gone are the days when your marketers were the only people to create digital experiences. Now, all companies are digital companies.
Let’s look at Porsche. Digital isn’t just part of their marketing process, but also as part of their ownership experience through personalized displays in their cars. Nike does something similar; their suite of apps means they’re not just a sports apparel brand, but a digital one. Even their flagship store is powered by their mobile app.
We need to think long and hard about how your digital transformation should look. In time, it will become harder and harder to understand where to invest; how to pick the simple over the complex. Navigating your next move can be tough, but consider taking a page out of Google and Salesforce’s book and invest in simplicity, content operations and personalized digital experiences. We know a good place to start –– with your CMS.
