Innovation is Relative, Always Great for Marketing
I’ve had the pleasure to work with several companies lately that are exceptional performers within their industries. Transparency, focus on value provided to clients, and excellence were their defining traits, however web and mobile technologies were lacking from their operational toolset.
When someone speaks to me of innovation I always think of the Large Hadron Collider or Quantum Computing - surreal, unapproachable technologies surrounded by humming supercomputers and linear algebra formulas that make the heads of regular mortals implode (I liked linear algebra when I was in college - that should tell you something). The reality is very different. The level of innovation is determined by the reference point from which it is viewed.
On the subject of a specific client, the industry is trailing behind by a solid ten years in the space of web and mobile. By opening back office data through a web portal to their customers and launching a mobile application that eliminates need for paper (work orders, invoices, etc.) we have created a stir in the industry that has resulted in unprecedented press coverage. And the tools we built for them are simple. Very simple. Well, they’re simple for us because we simmer in those technological juices on a daily basis - but the point I’m trying to make is that it’s all relative. You don’t need to discover Higgs boson to be innovative - just embrace technology and bring value to your customers in a way that your competitors do not.