Collaborative Innovation Is The Future Of Information Technology
By Doug Balog, IBM ( Link to original contribution here )
In recent years the information technology industry has seen the emergence of a number of ecosystems that incorporate customers, vendors, partners and even competitors.
Some of these ecosystems and collaborative organization include the Open Compute Project, the Linux Foundation and the OpenPOWER Foundation. These consortiums are proving that as the importance, complexity and connections of information technology increase, the greatest value comes from putting capabilities together — especially as we enter the new era of cognitive computing.
At its Silicon Valley summit in April, the OpenPOWER Foundation, which was formed two years ago to inspire collaborative innovation on the POWER chip, announced more than 50 new infrastructure and software innovations to help companies better solve grand challenges around big data.
One of the factors driving this surge of collaboration is the shifting competitive landscape across all industries. The barriers between formerly distinct industries are collapsing, as companies in one sector apply their expertise to others, producing new hybrids and erasing traditional industry classifications in the process. I believe this is presenting new opportunities and creating greater value throughout the information technology industry in at least three ways:
The increased speed of innovation,
The ability to be more responsive to customer needs,
And new, mutually beneficial ways of working between companies & innovators.
Collaborations are increasing the Speed of Innovation
In the age of ever more specialized products and services, companies — big and small — are increasingly charged with speeding time-to-market. A recent finding of an IBM study concluded that “No business can remain relevant by making ‘tweaks.’ The only way to stay ahead of disruptive change is to embrace it, which means being able to develop and release new products and services within weeks or even days.”
By working together, a growing number of technology firms are significantly accelerating time-to-market of innovations. Open source technologies are becoming the norm in our industry.
This is a growing trend. In fact if you think about it, most all of the fastest-growing “new companies” in our industry are built still on innovative technology ideas, but the most successful ones are all leveraging business model innovations as well.
Collaborations make us more responsive
Another factor driving the move to collaborate is that customers no longer see themselves as merely end users — they are a vital part of our innovation ecosystem from start to finish.
Customers are innovators, too. They are providing more input and their own intellectual property to help advance and create breakthroughs. And they are increasingly opting for more choice and flexibility. Customers want the building blocks of these open systems to develop the best infrastructure to support their unique demands.
We’re seeing a trend of custom systems. More organizations are creating hyperscale data centers to meet growing and complex computing demands. The lower cost of ownership allows for greater investment in custom software to meet business ne
eds.
Collaborations are introducing new ways of working
Finally, successful collaborations require the rewiring of tools and talent. This may involve joint training among cooperating partners, or increased partnerships with universities to ensure a steady pipeline of talent, able to innovate and leverage the latest technologies. It may also involve providing mass access to open technology.
It is clear: The need for speed, customization and new talent is driving industry convergence and collaborative innovation. Collectively, we can innovate faster and better without assuming the entire burden of risk.
