The way we work is changing. As market and customer demands evolve, companies recognise the need for developing a complete ecosystem around the customer — a task that can’t be accomplished alone. Companies in the High-Tech space must rethink their approach to collaboration and partnership if they are to continue to thrive. To develop a full, shared, 360-degree view of their customers, High-Tech companies must move beyond the siloed approach that has dominated their industry.

Harnessing the power of shared data and High-Tech analytics, identifying relevant partnerships, and proactively responding to changing customer needs are the cornerstones of success in any sector.

In this guide, we’ll deep dive into the benefits of a shared ecosystem, and why your business should leverage High-Tech data and analytics to stay ahead of your competitors.

Building the shared ecosystem

To build this interconnected service offering, High-Tech companies must look beyond their self-contained ecosystem. They must identify relevant cross-sector and cross-industry partnerships that will enhance the experience they offer. They must use High-Tech data more intelligently and democratise its use across the company, ultimately creating a deeper understanding of the consumer.

Benefits of sharing High-Tech data

The UK government has already identified the economic potential of data-sharing between companies. As part of the National Data Strategy, the government stated their goal of maintaining the level of data-sharing reached during the pandemic — far beyond its immediate applications within healthcare. The purpose of the strategy is to facilitate “sharing of data of appropriate quality between organisations in the public, private and third sectors […] to support vibrant competition and innovation, which will in turn drive future growth.”

Shared access to quality data is vital to driving new economic opportunities.

Collaboration or competition?

Your business may find potential in building partnerships with other companies in the same or similar field. Forbes explored the benefits of ‘coopetition’ — turning competitors in your market into possible allies.

At first glance, these partnerships may seem counterintuitive — why would you work with a potential rival? But in the High-Tech sector, where the cost of research and development (R&D) and the presence of global competition looms large, it could prove beneficial to work with competitors on innovation, product development, and connecting the value chain.

These partnerships must be approached with caution — the key is to identify and build on redundancies, rather than sharing business-critical information with a close competitor. When chosen selectively, they can yield major benefits for both parties.

Collaboration within your organisation is just as important

The need for collaboration and innovative partnerships isn’t just external. It can cascade down to an organisational level.

Your business must reward entrepreneurship and encourage development in new areas within existing teams — finding new relevant opportunities to connect the dots in the customer experience, within your organisation and beyond.

Your company must dismantle the barriers between existing teams to achieve a complete, 360-degree view of the customer. This includes supporting your employees’ passion projects — that niche new idea from a team member could be the missing link that provides a deeper understanding of the customer.

Deeper understanding through High-Tech data

To make these shared partnerships a success, High-Tech companies must ensure they have a deep understanding of their customer and their needs. This means implementing a complete customer management strategy that captures customer data and intelligently responds to it at every opportunity. Customer engagement, user personas, performance monitoring — every factor must be mined for relevant insights. The results may be surprising. Many companies learn the hidden, unexpected factors that weigh into seemingly unrelated decision making — such as a clothing company’s environmental credentials — and must adapt accordingly.

Harmonise and analyse your data

Working with a partner in the same or similar industry, enables your business to harmonise customer data, and together build a more complete picture of customer needs. Equipped with this data, companies are free to innovate and co-create. 

This is where High-Tech analytics comes into play. Enabling your business to access and analyse customer data helps to make better-informed decisions.

Adapt and innovate with Salesforce

During a time of significant change and disruption, the High-Tech industry  can adapt and innovate at a speed far beyond other industries. Despite its reputation for being insular and protective of data and resources, a new approach to partnerships, powered by the right data, will accelerate innovation within the sector.

Salesforce is a fully-integrated digital platform that helps your company adopt a collaborative strategy and access an ecosystem of actionable, cross-channel customer data. Salesforce integrates with external systems and data streams, empowering your business to tap into the full potential of customer data — and data held by partners — to achieve a complete, 360-degree view of the customer.

To learn more about Salesforce in the High-Tech industry, check out our High Tech Industry Page.