The Eighth Continent – the rules of the game are very different here!

Have you heard about the ‘Eighth Continent’? Wait a moment. Many of you must be now wondering why Oracle is suddenly talking about geography. Let me extricate you from the confusion. The Eighth Continent means the digital continent, where we spend most of our time for personal as well as for professional reasons. In this dynamic digital age, our experiences and expectations are rising rapidly so the lines are blurring too fast. 

According to global reports, 4.4 billion people – 58% of the world population – live, play and conduct businesses in the Eighth Continent, spending six hours and 42 minutes each day. Today, we’ve reached the future that authors and filmmakers discussed few years ago. 

In the Eighth Continent, the rules of the game are different. It is a world of disruptive technologies which is not restricted by borders or languages. Modern organisations should be re-creating, re-imagining and taking that leap into the Eighth Continent rather than playing around digital content in the physical world.  Are you passionate about driving this change? Then it should be you who needs to take that leap for your organisation to prosper in this Eighth Continent. Here is how you can do it: 

1. Data is your currency – earn it and use it well 

Data is a highly valuable asset on this continent. Here, success depends on how you act on insights based on data to drive your business growth. To get to that level of actionable insights, there must be a seamless flow of data across all the functions of an enterprise. That requires connected and secure data and one that is driven by connected intelligence. 

Connected data means all business functions are operating as one, eliminating siloed operations. Connected intelligence means business functions being able to influence decision making and empowering adjacent business function. For example excess liquidity in finance triggering early payment discounting in the procurement function, another example being productivity improvement measures in human resources based on operating expense guidelines shared by finance. 

More connected the various functions are, faster is theflow of data resulting in better business decision making. Bearing in mind, on this continent transformation is one constant game – with emerging technologies driving extreme automation and intelligence that eliminate redundancies. Getting on with transformation isn’t a nice-to-have; it’s a must-do. Companies with the right leadership and data-driven vision will seize the opportunities offered by cloud computing to grow and thrive on the eighth continent— start now before it’s too late.

2. Plan your journey and subscribe to the future

Before this Eighth Continent - business applications such as ERP, HCM or CRM sustained in the backend, and the cloud and SaaS was a muse for poets or perhaps research topic for weather forecasters looking for rain. That is no longer the case on the Eighth Continent; here CEOs and every CXO is moving away from traditional business models. Instead businesses thrive here by “subscribing to the future” on SaaS that brings ready access to business capabilities in forms of continuous quarterly updates just like your phone updates. 

In other words, you create “Your tomorrow, today!”, irrespective of the sector you are in. This requires you to invest in a trusted SaaS partner. On Eighth Continent, businesses strive to innovate and anticipate what’s next—to change and drive change with new ideas, customer focus, an action plan, and operating on the latest and the greatest technologies. 

3. Transform roles – 

lead with new skillsets

Traditional roles, unfortunately, do not let you survive on this continent. C-suite leaders are being disrupted, for example CIO, i.e. Chief ’Information‘ Officer is no longer about IT (Information Technology), but it is about innovation, and hence new age title is Chief ’Innovation‘ Officer. This also means sweeping change in responsibilities driving the need for fundamentally different set of skillsets to stay relevant. A CFO is no longer a finance bookkeeper instead becoming a business partner to the CEO. Similarly, a CHRO’s role is not restricted to managing human capital instead it is about defining the future of work. Each of these CXO’s are bringing down traditional functional siloes to have a complete, unified understanding of the entire company and to be able to offer strategic inputs that drive innovation for the CEO and the company board. This compels the need to don the digital hat, as the situation is demanding. 

4. Be technology led not tech-enabled

On the eighth continent, customer-satisfaction is not good enough – and being customer obsessed and agile is the only way to drive success for businesses here. The continent is a dream come true for all those businesses, who are trying to and are willing to take advantage of every disruptive technology discovering new business and be the first bringing in those new possibilities to the market. 

The Eight Continent delivers immense value, enabling us to connect, exchange and collaborate. However, residents of this continent need to be acutely aware of security. A lax attitude towards security can leave the residents vulnerable to the malicious intent of digital perpetrators. No doubt, some companies will fail, but technology combined with business acumen will remain core to a successful recipe. 

A statement that rightfully sums up the meaning of life on the Eighth Continent is ‘You either disrupt or are disrupted.’. Not only we must embrace this change but we need to take up responsibility for creating the right digital culture and mindset to generate thoughtful and fruitful experiences. The transformative, hyper-connected digital continent offers opportunities that have been never imagined before. 

First, we need to accept that this is not an extension of our current business model but a brand new territory. This particular terrain isunchartered and uncertain, but by moving ahead with courage, and with the right business partner, this digital continent is the greatest place to operate in as the global enterprise. 

[The writer is the JAPAC SaaS Leader, Office of Finance (ERP) and Digital Supply Chain.]