As organizations pursue digitization, it can be all too easy for technical systems to become fragmented and incapable of interoperation. This can impede innovation and impact the flow of the knowledge, data and resources that are essential for driving transformation and maintaining a competitive edge.
Unlocking the full potential of a company’s digital capabilities is work that cannot be left solely to its tech team. Businesses must find ways for cross-functional teams and partners to work together smoothly without sacrificing the tools and systems that have proven effective for each. Below, 20 members of Forbes Technology Council share helpful tools and techniques to promote and enable collaboration across tech ecosystems.
1. Enterprise Web Browsers
We’ve seen a seismic shift to cloud and SaaS solutions, often accessed through workers’ personal devices using unsecured consumer Web browsers. While this increases productivity, it hurts a company’s security and potential for innovation. This is why I recommend an enterprise Web browser, which provides a first line of defense for companies across their diverse platforms. – Ofer Ben-Noon, Palo Alto Networks
2. Embracing ‘The Why’ Principle
Embrace “The Why” principle to align teams and foster collaboration. Understanding the purpose behind decisions promotes transparency and cooperation, facilitating interoperability across diverse tech platforms. This clarity of purpose creates focus and drives innovation within organizations working with varied technological ecosystems. – Tom Amburgey, Euna Solutions
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3. Blending Technical And Business Expertise
There are two aspects to this: technical and business. Focusing on one without the other will make collaboration ineffective. SMEs from different platforms hold deep knowledge on their respective areas, while business stakeholders can provide the foundation for new collaboration and interoperability. Having a disciplined cadence with executive presence will provide opportunities for innovation. – Raja Epsilon, WrkSpot
4. Orchestration
Orchestration is a way to connect and coordinate people, processes and systems across an organization—even across disparate systems, datasets and organizational boundaries. This allows people to work faster, collaborate more and deliver better business outcomes. The key is implementing an orchestration solution that’s purpose-built for the business problem you are trying to solve. – Lalitha Rajagopalan, ORO Labs, Inc.
5. Open Standards And APIs
A key strategy is to implement open standards and APIs, making sure that they’re published internally. This enables seamless integration and data exchange across different tech platforms. This fosters a collaborative environment where diverse systems work together efficiently, sparking innovation. – Avi Shua, Orca Security
6. Network Modernization
Collaboration is often hindered by an outdated network. Legacy networks can block data interoperability across ecosystems, and with 89% of businesses today utilizing a multicloud model, this can severely inhibit productivity and innovation. Network modernization must be the first step for businesses to enable the flexibility and scalability required for cross-organizational collaboration. – Andrés Irlando, Zayo Group
7. Flexible Agile Frameworks
Using flexible Agile frameworks such as Scrum with self-sufficient, cross-functional teams can be a way to encourage teamwork and make different tech platforms work together better. This can lead to new ideas. This way of working can improve communication, adaptability and efficiency in different parts of a company, especially ones that rely heavily on technology. – Dmitry Starodubtsev, Mighty Buildings
8. Shared Data Formats And Interoperability Frameworks
Go for shared data formats and interoperability frameworks. Focus on identifying common business processes and workflows that can be mapped across various tech platforms. This creates a shared understanding of how information should flow and improves interoperability. Do proofs of concept often to allow for early technology adoption, but before scaling, benchmark the results. – Erum Manzoor, Citigroup
9. Create Councils And Working Teams
Convening councils and working teams comprising decision-makers and front-line users is a valuable starting point for any technology rollout. These groups can launch small-bore projects and experiments to test out new technologies or platforms, proving the use case to ensure any IT investment solves the problem it is designed for and gets work done for the teams or projects that need it most. – Ed Jennings, Quickbase
10. Web3 Solutions
One industry at the cutting edge of innovation is gaming, with many AAA-rated studios exploring Web3 solutions for incentivizing user acquisition, retention and monetization. The next era for Web3 games will involve introducing interoperability of player characters and tools across game worlds. The studios that focus on the possibilities enabled by new technologies such as blockchain will have an advantage. – Anton Umnov, Helika
11. Guilds And Pair Programming
Ongoing education is crucial for scaling, innovation and meeting consumer needs across diverse platforms. Practices such as establishing guilds and pair programming for engineers can help unite distributed teams, promote knowledge exchange and encourage joint problem-solving. – Jess Turner, Mastercard
12. A Microservices-Enabled, API-First Architecture
The primary strategy should be to assess, implement and catalog, at an early stage, a microservices-enabled, API-first architecture design. Leverage open standards for technologies including AI, the IoT, blockchain, 5G and others. This not only accelerates the pace of innovation and business model transformation, but also saves costs, simplifies governance and fosters new partnerships focused on data, business and technology for fast value. – Sudhanshu Duggal, Procter & Gamble
13. Leveraging The Strengths Of Different Organizations
I think the right approach is not to consider other organizations in the ecosystem as competitors, but rather to look for ways to proactively resolve different challenges by leveraging the strengths of the different organizations. We can always bring something to each other. Sharing expertise and experience is always a win-win strategy in the long term. – Yuriy Golikov, DEVBROTHER LLC
14. The ‘Subset Approach’
Allowing small teams to solve a subset of a legacy problem enhances the chances of dramatic innovation. Imposing the same problems and constraints on everyone stifles that innovation. It’s applying the concepts of the “innovator’s dilemma” to your own innovations. The subset approach may not be deployable immediately, but it increases your speed and will result in more at-bats in the game of change. – Narinder Singh, LookDeep Health
15. Participating In Industry Consortia
I would suggest participating in industry consortia and standards organizations. Your company can contribute to the development of common standards and best practices while also gaining insights into emerging technologies and trends and making connections with peers. – Arnaud Peltier, WiN MS
16. Working In Tandem With Key Industry Players
Instead of trying to disrupt and replace legacy tech stacks, young organizations are well-served to work in tandem with key industry players. Leaders should consider where to add value to existing tools and prioritize interoperability with category-leading platforms to increase visibility. Two solutions that share data offer deeper insights than a single tool alone. – Anders Lillevik, Focal Point
17. A Central Source Of Truth
In the life sciences, data is the key asset, and the increasing volume and velocity of data make interoperability critical. No singular system can solve every problem along the clinical data value chain. Data sharing must be part of your overall data strategy. At the same time, organizations need to prioritize having a central source of truth to increase the availability and usability of data. – Raj Indupuri, eClinical Solutions
18. Speaking The Same Workplace Language
Foster an environment where people speak in a common, easily understood language, and avoid domain-specific terms and phrases. This, combined with a culture rooted in learning and knowledge-sharing, will empower people to collaborate better across teams. It is also vital to have alignment on KPIs, leadership structure and the contributions each individual and team is expected to make. – Avital Pardo, Pagaya
19. Starting With The Data
Start at the core of all those tech platforms—the data. If you can create a more unified view of data across your organization, then these diverse technologies will all be powered by the same view of your customer or business. That ensures teams are innovating from the same starting point, working alongside one another even when they need to focus on different areas of the business. – Raj De Datta, Bloomreach
20. Identifying And Automating Critical Processes
Identify the critical business processes that enable the organization to grow. From there, prioritize which multisystem workflows must be established in order to streamline and automate those business processes. It ultimately will involve making sure you have the right data and that it flows from and to the places where collaboration happens. – Stephen Hsu, Calendly
