Innovation is a mindset that can translate uncertainty and complexity into a success story. It can turn failure into opportunity, and it can be used to shift the way businesses approach traditional ways of thinking and strategy. It’s also a way of thinking that defines leadership in uncertain times and can help bring clarity to business strategy.

According to Aditya Ruia, director of Micropoint, innovation is critical to ensuring long-term business success.

“Innovation is defined by more than just a bright and shiny new technology; it is a mindset, a way of doing business that allows for the organisation to explore fresh new ideas that can refine products and solutions,” Ruia says. “It’s about keeping up to date with markets, looking at new trends, refining existing products and services, and creating the right mix of solutions that delivers both industry-leading services and customer delight.”

Customer delight is, of course, a complexity of its own — hard to pin down and equally hard to maintain. The business has to ensure that it delivers the right products at the right time and at the right price, all the time. This is critical to long-term success and can make all the difference between a dynamic and trends-driven company or one that simply staggers from one sale to the next.

“You have to really listen to the customer and cater for their needs, because these are ever changing,” says Ruia. “It’s important to have a business model that allows you to adapt and pivot constantly, and that embeds flexibility and accessibility into its approaches and foundations. Right now, companies are looking to cloud and connectivity to ensure they can thrive in the pandemic. They want to be connected, fast, and they need it done at a price point that makes sense for their own growth and market.”

Data explosion

For Ruia, data is one of the golden tickets right now. Data — especially in a “customer delight” context — holds tremendous value when captured, stored and leveraged to its full extent, something that is increasingly difficult in a rapidly changing, multi-cloud, multi-edge world.

In fact, according to the recent Seagate Rethink Data report, over the next two years, enterprise data is projected to increase at a 42.2% annual growth rate. The challenge, of course, is that today only 32% of data available to enterprises is put to work. The remaining 68% goes unleveraged.

Organisations today transfer about 36% of data from edge to core. By 2022, we’ll be looking at 57% — meaning enterprises will need to manage a lot more data in motion. The report also points out that managing data in the multi-cloud ecosystem is a top data management challenge expected over the next two years — with managing data in hybrid cloud a close second. Therefore, there needs to be a simple, secure and economic way to capture, store and activate large volumes of data.

It is going to remain one of the most relevant and important trends over the next few years, especially as innovative approaches will change its capacity and the speed at which it will be stored and analysed. As the technology required to fully leverage data evolves, so will its value and the world is sitting on the edge of a change that will alter how they do business, invest and engage.

Staying on top of this trend begins with the implementation of an effective storage solution. To this end, Seagate is able to assist clients to reduce the cost and complexity of mass data storage, ensuring cost is no longer the barrier that prevents an organisation storing its most valuable commodity.

“Once a storage solution is in place that affords organisations the platform from which to truly maximise the potential of their data, they can focus on innovative approaches that allow them to do so — at speed, right now,” says Ruia. “They also need to remain up to date with the latest technology such as artificial intelligence and automation. These two trends are leading the way, helping organisations to reduce the costs that come with admin-intensive tasks while improving productivity.”

As the future rolls in around the pandemic, innovation is likely to be the key that unlocks the sustainability for many companies. It will help them unpack agility and flexibility within their environments while exploring the potential of technology and connectivity in improving processes and customer experiences. What lies ahead is defined by uncertainty, but it is equally defined by the innovation mindset adopted by the company that’s committed to its long-term success.

Micropoint SA is a proud re-seller of Seagate. With over 20 years in the industry, Micropoint’s large import base and strong relationships with local suppliers puts it in the perfect position to offer a comprehensive range of products at competitive pricing — catering to all your needs. With a range of options and solutions, your perfect hard drive awaits. Find it here.