Corporations Redux

Why Redux? ‍

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Redux means ‘to reduce’

The word redux comes from reduction. A company sets up its operations with the idea of wanting to stand forever. To stay relative it welcomes a lot of new technologies and newly skilled people to its hive. The skilled people gain better experiences through their operational cycles of both execution and implementation. These experiences are taught to the upcoming generations, passing on the baton so to speak. For the majority of them, however, along with their skills the marketplace necessity of those skills also becomes obsolete. Such skillsets stay to become logos of companies such as Instagram having the lens of a Leica polaroid camera and people with such skillsets become names of companies like Tesla. 

What is meant by corporations redux?

Corporations also have a redux formula they adhere to whether by choice or mostly by chance. As an example, let’s take a company like IBM that worked on the first 250 byte RAM storage. during its heyday both the engineers that worked on it and the technology that enabled it was in a good place. As and when the technology improved, the next generation of engineers also improved their skillsets de facto. As time went those big chunks of blocks started to reduce in size. This began the advent of the USB - the Universal Serial Bus. From USB ports to servers to the cloud we did come a long way. The market demand for reduction started with the sizes that mattered to these corporations and thus began the formula of corporations redux. 

Corporations need to worry about redux 

Corporations should worry about redux because there is a fine line between the areas this formula is applicable and the areas that should completely stand mute to its derivatives. For example, take the case of GE which stands for General Electric. One of their star CEOs has applied this formula to everything that GE did - apparently on a piece of tissue paper while having dinner with family - or so the story goes. Today, they are not in any of the businesses that the founder of GE envisaged them to be. On the other end, we have Coca-Cola which remained true to its foundation of what the company was all about. It remained true to its identity since its inception that the secret formula of the beverage is still transported to all of its foundries in the same way as was laid down by its creator. This stark difference between the two begs the following questions - 

What areas of a business can the redux formula be applied to?

In what areas of a business the redux formula shouldn’t be applied? 

At Celeix Digital we go a step further and involve people and processes along with technologies in that mix. 

How are redux and digital transformation related?

First come first serve

Nokia was the numero uno in making phones that were simple to operate and hard to break. The market at that time was in the reverse order. When the smartphone era came, all of us thought Nokia will have it figured out when they bought Symbian. There were two problems when this marriage happened - 

One, Symbian wasn’t the GPU that apple had 

Two, they were late in entering the market that was getting away with buttons 

As a business owner, it is the onus of that decisive mind that takes its people, processes, and technologies upon its shoulders and makes sure they weigh equal. Invest in technologies as soon as you can but involve the people sooner and develop processes to be put in place the soonest. 

What are the different options?

The first option is to chart out a digital transformation plan. Target the areas of operation and management that you wouldn’t be needing anymore. Train the people in the new emergent technologies and expect a slow but steady learning curve. Create a liaison with companies like Celiex Digital and make sure the junk data and its processes are also looked into to see where time, money, and energy can be saved. Do away with the data and processes that running on platforms that are non-existent in the market. Don’t do away with the people, they are the easiest resources when trained and become the costliest when you don’t concentrate on them and let them go. Cost-cutting applies to the maintenance of processes and not to people. 

The right option for you

One size doesn’t fit all. Customisation is in irrespective of the size of your company. There is a need to make sure the transformation reaches every designation and process in place. Like Sherlock Holmes opined - data, data, data, Watson. A company that manages its junk data without having to resort to letting it go is a company that can be transformed well into the future. This transition sounds seamless but it isn’t and it shouldn’t be. A digital transformation throws up challenges that can be a nightmare initially but variedly gratifying when looked into and met head-on. 

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After corporations redux, then what?

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Being penny-wise and pennies-wise

Technically speaking technologies and their capabilities, nowadays are a bit daunting to understand, aren't they? Who would have thought that we would be using a device that encompasses a computer handling jobs of a camera, a music player, a telephone, and social connect with just a few swipes in a handheld device that fits into a pocket? So the question we need to ask ourselves is am I getting more out of buying an expensive smartphone than buying a camera, a music player and so on? Note that a smartphone does what all these devices can do separately but not efficiently. If you are a wildlife photographer you will need those long lenses to capture that time for eternity and a smartphone cannot do that for you, for now. The point is to bring digital transformation where it matters but not in terms of a profit loss statement on a balance sheet. Pick one factor that you could handle digital transformation properly and then scale according to the need rather than anything else that doesn’t matter. 

Does it matter?

Well, it depends. Just because there is a technology or an outdated process doesn’t mean it has to be shelved. Just because there is a new gadget in town doesn’t mean you have to buy it, either. This is where a digital transformation company like Celiex Digital can help you make that decision. We are data-centric but that option ranks third in our order of business. We look at your people and processes ranking first and second. This methodical approach to transforming your business will help keep costs low, processes intact and people loyal. Having said that, do we have all the answers to the digital transformation in place?

Yes, no, and maybe 

Maybe, but yes we do have all the answers for managing your company’s redux while keeping your business interests in mind. And no, we don’t do it in an out-of-sight, out-of-mind context when the redux is achieved. The redux and the transformation go hand in hand, one after another. Needless to say, we will of course need your help in getting there but the first step is yours. Remember what can be worked away with needs to be worked away with. At the same time what needs to be worked with? Yeah, we understand that’s a lot of usage disaster in terms of prepositions but they are here to stay because the previous sentences are grammatically correct. So is our digital transformation process with new technology you want to use with the people who will be using it to get the best out of it. 

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