TechMarketView research theme 2019: The Year of the Relationship

Today, Monday December 10 2018, we are excited to formally launch TechMarketView’s research theme for 2019: The Year of the Relationship: Extend, Evolve, Optimise. Those who attended our TechMarketView Evening in September will already have had a sneak peek – see An Evening with TechMarketView 2018.This is a natural evolution of our 2018 theme – Breaking the Boundaries. It acknowledges that suppliers and end users must effectively develop an array of relationships as they compete in a market being driven by the desire to digitally transform. Success in this market is entwined with that of the entire ecosystem, both within and beyond organisational boundaries.Suppliers must look closely at their relationships with their employees (with the aim of attracting, recruiting and retaining the required digital skills and resources); with acquired organisations (particularly relevant for those acquiring and managing creative digital agencies); with partners (to get the right balance between quantity of partners and quality of collaboration); and with their customer’s customer (as they pursue co-creation initiatives or pursue B2B2C related opportunities).But most important of all is the supplier’s direct relationship with its clients and prospects: the end user. In a software and IT services market being held back by legacy drag, suppliers need to be strongly positioned to convince client organisations to embark on and invest in digital transformation initiatives involving newer emerging technology. That means creating an environment defined by trust; an environment in which supplier and their clients can work together to face up to the shared challenges that are a barrier to faster progress.Extending the client relationship is crucial, as digital touches every part of the organisation, has relevance to the entire executive team and reaches into all the lines of business. Evolving the relationship, is necessary to align it to the changing demands of the market; end users we speak with refer to the need for a frictionless relationship that allows the rapid firing up of projects and the support of innovation and change. And finally, optimising the relationship, will require finding the most effective relationship model to drive towards a truly mutually-beneficial partnership; the aim is to allow clients to move beyond their comfort zone, be bolder, and start to take a few more calculated punts.As we progress through 2019, TechMarketView’s research will look at all these relationships, exploring which suppliers are getting it right, highlighting new relationship models, and advising how to ‘extend, optimise and evolve’.