Gearing for Growth - Why Businesses Must Reach for the Sky

 

As economies inch towards full post-pandemic recovery, businesses everywhere are looking to focus on growth. The biggest question, of course, is how?

Among the major lessons to emerge from lockdown and shift to remote working is that organisations can and should be more adaptable and willing to embrace change. Businesses everywhere met the challenges of the past 18 months with amazing resilience and many now understand much more about the value of digital transformation than ever before.

In fact, technology strategy is central to how success will be defined in the years ahead. This means being prepared to take an existing business model - even if it’s currently successful - and look for ways to deliver improvement through digital innovation.

Take Sky, for example. Over three decades, it has become synonymous with subscription TV services beamed via satellite dishes up and down the country. As a genuinely disruptive force in UK broadcasting, it has changed the way millions of people consume news, sport and entertainment.

Arguably, its biggest influence has been on the funding model it has brought to a variety of sports, most notably Premier League football. Sky has been the leading TV rights holder for years, and it currently pays £1.19 billion per annum for its allocation of matches. For better or worse, the football economy has been revolutionised and Sky has played a huge role.

Even though its recent profit figures showed a decline over the previous 12 months, earnings still reached $560 million and its subscription revenue now sits at $5.2 billion annually - up 15% since last year.

 

 

In with the new

Impressive as this seems, Sky has recently revealed a massive shift in strategy with the launch of Sky Glass. Not only does this signal the end of the road for satellite dishes with a move to streaming, it also sees Sky enter the TV manufacturing market - a development that experts say puts it in direct competition with the likes of Samsung and Sony.

In one fell swoop, Sky has not only changed a long-standing component of its core business model, but it’s also entering a mature and highly competitive consumer manufacturing market.

Clearly, they have the resources to back this up with serious levels of investment, but its strategy offers some important lessons for every ambitious business.

A key point is that for businesses of all sizes and in every niche, technology is a huge enabler of business innovation, operational improvement and better financial performance. In today’s digital economy, IJYI works closely with clients to transform business effectiveness with innovative, high quality software that delivers on their requirements.

In practical terms, many organisations face large-scale project management challenges which can lead to damaging overspend and missed delivery deadlines. In contrast, our approach dramatically improves the way software projects are managed and implemented.

In the words of Richard Finch, Managing Director of Plant Parts "IJYI's collaborative approach has meant that we have been fully engaged in the project at each stage. Their team are highly competent and bring a level of creativity and flair which has meant that we've not only achieved the results we hoped for but the process has been an enjoyable experience."

To learn more about how we help organisations to gear up for digital-led growth, click here.

 

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IJYI Ltd

IJYI Ltd.