Businesses have invested heavily in resilience and short-term recovery. But, as the pandemic rolls on, companies are concerned about reigniting their competitiveness.
“Irish businesses have competed on the global stage for many years, and they compete well,” says Joe Dunleavy, VP of Innovation at Endava. “But maintaining a competitive edge has rarely been more challenging than it is now. It’s been tough for many, both big and small. Delivering against this ‘new normal’ has pushed organisations right out of their comfort zone, just to stay afloat. One of the undeniable things to come out of this situation is the need to innovate - to respond to the market in a creative and purposeful way to remain in the game.”
For Dunleavy, this stems from playing to Ireland’s inherent strengths. “We’ve got a lot going for us,” he continues. “We are one of the last remaining English-speaking countries in the EU, have a large and highly educated talent pool, hold a unique relationship with the UK, and have appealing business tax rates. Most of all, technology has become part of who we are. So, let’s use that to our advantage.”
As one of the fastest growing technology consultancies in Ireland, Endava works across, and monitors, a wide range of industries. “If there’s been one consistent success factor across all of them, it’s innovating at speed. Seizing the opportunity when it’s put in front of them, not 12 months down the line. That’s not competitive. That’s just trying to keep up.”
The Irish Government's Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF) is a €500 million pot, open to companies, SMEs, and academic partners to work together and encourage collaboration
But it is not simply using technology or talent that will set Irish business apart, according to Dunleavy. “It’s as much about how you innovate as anything else. Innovation is often seen as a bit of a hazy concept but that really shouldn’t be the case. Whether it is incremental or disruptive, it should be targeted, value-led, viewed through the lens of a product mindset, and ultimately built to meet a specific demand.”
Describing how this translates into a working process, Dunleavy explains how “it is critical to recognise and understand the end user’s persona, their issues, and their expectations. That’s where the innovation process stems from, not from a particular technology that has caught your eye.”
The challenge for many organisations, however, is having the bandwidth to innovate in the first place. “I appreciate this may seem like a lot. More often than not, businesses are stuck in an innovation rut, time poor, and in need of fresh eyes. But they’re not alone. Ireland is teeming with disruptive and innovative agents, each bringing unique skills to the table. What I’m getting at is called co-value creation, or an open innovation model. Collaborating with partners to spread risk, bring in new ideas, new expertise, and share the load.
"And it's not just Endava saying this. The Irish Government's Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF) is a €500 million pot, open to companies, SMEs, and academic partners to work together and encourage collaboration," Dunleavy points out.
When selecting partners to work with there are some strict qualifying criteria. “Innovation is a journey with multiple stages and milestones, and partners must be willing and able to drop in at any critical stage. Rolling up their sleeves and getting stuck in – be it at ideation, design concept, prototyping, piloting, scaling or anywhere in-between. It’s an iterative process, demanding reactive and adaptive work patterns. Not everyone can do that easily and successfully!”
Bringing it back to competitiveness, he adds, “Crucially, when all’s said and done, the organisation still retains its IP, its competitive differentiator. Because that’s what competitiveness comes down to: being the first on the scene. The organisation that delivered something innovative to the market, on time, that made a real difference.”
Endava has been helping companies innovate and deliver focused, value led solutions for years. If you feel your organisation is in an innovation rut or struggling to remain competitive visit endava.com to find out how we can help.