It’s a Hybrid World (and our first Limited Series that you won't want to miss)
I’ve been researching, talking about, and writing about various forms of transformation for over a decade.
It started with a focus on IT transformation, leading to digital transformation, and most recently my focus has shifted to the transformation of work and entire organizations around the digital experience.
What all of this transformation has in common is that it represents a shift from long-standing norms to new ways of thinking and functioning.
And because of a combination of inertia, fear of change, and deep-seated investments, none of these transformations are anywhere near complete. The inevitable result is our current hybrid world. Whether it’s hybrid IT, hybrid cars, or hybrid work, the world is in the midst of several simultaneous transitions that will take decades to complete.
Two Impacts of Our Hybrid World
So, what’s the point of all this hybrid talk?
First, it’s important to understand that despite the hype and how fast things are changing in some respects, this is a long game we’re all playing. You need to make decisions with this timeframe and the true essence of these transformations in mind.
Second, this transition to a hybrid world is affecting one other area in the sphere of enterprise tech: the way we produce and consume content.
While Millennials and Gen Zers long ago moved to video and community-based content as their primary source of media consumption, the enterprise tech space has stayed largely focused on traditional analyst reports, vendor blogs, and other written content.
But like almost every other aspect of our lives, this, too, is beginning to change. While the major analyst firms (and most of the small ones too) are pretty locked into the traditional triumvirate of analyst reports, blogs, and webinars, there are a number of progressive (and mostly independent) analysts that are investing much more energy into producing recorded and live-streamed video content as their primary content medium. Likewise, several progressive tech companies are beginning to invest in building authentic (and agnostic) communities around their domains.
Our New Hybrid Content Direction
I believe this shift represents the future of how enterprises will seek out and consume tech-related content. But unlike the other transitions, I don’t believe this one will ever be fully complete. While various forms of enriched and community-based media will play an increasingly important and prevalent role in enterprise tech content, written content will always have a place. Therefore, I believe we will be living in a world of what I’m calling hybrid content for the foreseeable future.
This belief is why, starting with the next installment of The Digital Experience Report, we will be pivoting to a predominately video-based format. The Report itself will now be published as a video series called The Report with Charles Araujo. We will also be producing a few periodic series. The first is called Digital Experience IRL in which we’ll be talking to those enterprise and tech company leaders that are leading the way in transforming around the digital experience. And the second will be a more casual, off-the-cuff series I’m calling The Download.
We’re also going to continue working with our tech company clients to build and sustain executive- and practitioner-focused communities. More on this later.
Over time, we’ll also be producing both Limited Series and regular series with various tech company partners. I’m very excited about these series as they will help us all understand the various stories of transformation through the eyes of those leading them.
In fact, we just released the very first episode of our first limited series, entitled Unleashing Transformation, presented in partnership with Zoho. In the first episode, called Unleashing Innovation, you’ll hear from enterprise leaders about how they’re using low-code and no-code approaches, both in creating new apps and in customizing off-the-shelf apps, to drive innovation in how they work and interact with customers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kEPX_6HcBc&t=271s
Tune in and check it out. Then subscribe to the channel, share this first episode with your network, watch it with co-workers, and use it to create meaningful conversations with your clients.
Transformation is all about change. And change always begins with ourselves. See you next time — on camera!