Agility: Competing and Winning in a Tech-Savvy Marketplace

Chapter 1. LEADING INTO THE FUTURE

"Lead with the future, not with the past" is a favorite mantra of Microsoft's chief operating officer, Kevin Turner. Today, sticking with the tried and true won't keep a company in the lead for long. Technology has changed the landscape. Its powerful impact on business performance ensures that companies that do not know how to take advantage of new tools will lose their competitive edge.

Collaboration, customer communication, and product development are just three of the myriad areas where business strategy and technology intersect and go right to the bottom line. Companies that know how to efficiently choose, roll out, and measure the effect of new technology have shown themselves to be winners in today's marketplace. Whether it's reductions in energy use or a quicker time to market with a new product, companies like BMW and Del Monte have used technology to gain a competitive advantage. These are today's Agile companies.

CURRENT LANDSCAPE

In this book, you'll see the many ways technology agility impacts business performance and how you can get your company ready for and apply new technology. This is true whether your job is to define business strategy, manage facilities or sales accounts, or oversee technology and its management. Any and every part of your company can and will be transformed.

Often it is easier to recognize impact if observed through a magnifying glass, and economic shifts and crises can function as such. The financial, automotive, ...