Technologies like cloud and Generative AI (GenAI) have fundamentally altered how organizations everywhere operate in a remarkably short time. Today, approximately 90% of Fortune 500 companies offer digital products or services in some form, doing things like improving the customer experience, increasing enterprise agility, accelerating product time to market, or sparking new innovation.
In short, these platforms have democratized innovation. Instead of just being an operational necessity, software is now a major catalyst for growth in virtually every industry – or can be, if properly harnessed.
But for companies to fully capitalize on this opportunity, they need to build their own tailored products and solutions. Using the IP and data generated through their daily operations, organizations can create unique offerings that not only differentiate them from competitors but also deliver significant value in markets that are increasingly hungry for innovation.
An unprecedented opportunity to build innovative products with IP and data
Software engineering of course is not new, and organizations have been building digital products for decades. But the advent of hyperscale platforms and the acceleration of artificial intelligence (AI) and GenAI present an entirely new kind of opportunity. The lower cost of development and expanded capabilities of the hyperscale platforms have reignited the “build versus buy” discussion. Companies can now build highly tailored solutions – developed from their own IP and data – that are accessible, impactful, scalable, and offer real market differentiation. And, importantly, these solutions cannot be purchased off the shelf.
Often the C-suite thinks of software engineering as an exclusively technical matter for IT teams, with challenges and concerns that are separate from business. But with the new emphasis on building tailored solutions, thanks to lower cost of development and expanded capabilities of the hyperscale platforms, software engineering has become a business opportunity, one with tremendous potential upside. The reason for this can be found in the unique IP and data that virtually every organization generates.
Whether it’s an insurance company working with actuarial tables or a manufacturer reviewing safety records, most organizations have unique internal IP and data naturally generated from the process of doing business.
The hyperscale platforms mean that data and IP can be used to create truly distinctive offerings – whether it’s in customer experience, security, or something else – while reducing long-term costs and mitigating market risk. AI and GenAI also make it possible to scale these offerings faster than ever before, potentially speeding up ROI.
The challenge is that too few companies know how to capture this data and IP, understand its full business value, and turn it into a product or solution that truly differentiates them in the market.
Why most organizations need a collaborator to seize this opportunity
The challenge isn’t merely technical – though the process can be complicated technologically. There’s also a business dimension. To do this right, organizations need a deep understanding of where very specific markets are headed, how their internal data and IP can be used to solve real problems outside the organization, and how technology and business overlap and intersect in both large and small ways.
It requires a marriage of business and tech thinking, of engineering acumen and strategic insight. In short, it means rethinking the purpose of software engineering and understanding how to turn data and IP into a product. Market differentiation, after all, is a business issue, not an IT one.
This is why a strategic collaborator is so critical but companies are often not built to facilitate this kind of approach, and few understand how to develop digital products along this kind of lifecycle. In most organizations, technical people report to IT, and each line of business has its own chain of command. So surfacing, leveraging, and productizing an organization’s unique data and IP in a way that generates real insight, which is where game-changing value lies, usually requires people with experience across practices and disciplines.
To both recognize the value of this data and IP, and to put it to best use will often mean engaging outside specialists with both a technical mindset and a deeply informed view of where business is going.
What building your own solutions looks like in practice
Take the example of a major global provider of renewable energy, with a customer base of over 35 million.
As people become aware of how their energy usage impacts the environment, more want the ability to monitor it in their homes. To help homeowners do this, the energy company created a smart assistant. Combining a cloud platform with machine learning technology, the smart assistant lets people control electrical devices in their homes, provides real-time insights into energy usage, and helps manage consumption to minimize energy coming from non-renewable sources – all through a user-friendly interface.
Using a cloud provider and the company’s own internal data to unearth unique customer insights, a team from Deloitte’s engineering practice was able to help design the offering, identify key risks, and build a product for homeowners.
The resulting solution is good for customers, the environment, and generates long-term value for the company. And it could not have been created without the combination of cloud computing, the company’s internal data and IP, and Deloitte Engineering’s collaboration.
Supercharging your capacity for innovation
The IP and data generated in the course of daily business now present a tremendous opportunity for every organization to spark new ideas and create value. Advances in the capabilities of hyperscale technology companies means that organizations can build innovative digital products and create true competitive differentiation in the market.
But fully realizing this potential requires more than just technical capability, it demands both software engineering and strategic insight. To make the most of the opportunity, organizations need to collaborate with experienced software engineers. By combining hyperscale platforms, data and IP, and the deep business and technical insight of a collaborator, organizations can unlock new value, drive market differentiation, and create unique solutions that are innovative, scalable, and impactful.
