Recent Posts by Oracle Cloud

90% of the world’s existing data was created in the past 2 years and most of that data is linked to individuals. Think about your own interaction with businesses as a customer, not a marketer. As a savvy consumer you’ll not tolerate any barriers to purchase – meet one and you’ll find your product elsewhere. Barriers are diverse, but they share a common failure point: an inability to connect with you as an individual. It’s a clear signal that a company isn’t...

Social media has been marketing’s stellar performer for nearly two decades. From 2002’s launch of LinkedIn through to 2018, close to 3.2 billion people have ‘gone social’ – that’s a 13% hike on 2017. Understandably, businesses have rushed to where consumers now spend more of their time. But recent events have tarnished social’s golden egg and the fallout shows that marketers need to follow their customers – not channels. Learning the lessons Don’t panic, social media isn’t going...

‘The future of work lies in AI, robots, and automation’. You could certainly be forgiven for thinking this, given the headlines over the last couple of years. And it’s true – but only partially. Yes, new technologies are changing how we work, making businesses more efficient, and feeding growth. But it’s people that develop, improve, and manage these technologies – and take care of areas that can’t be handled by machines. People hold the power of innovation, and...

Like professional athletes, businesses need to be agile to reach the top of their game. They need strength, speed, and stamina, but it’s agility that allows them to react effectively to unexpected events. And it’s often the difference between winning and losing. In any modern business of any size, agility underpins innovation and growth. Thankfully, almost all of us recognise the need for agility: 94% of business and HR leaders report that agility and collaboration are vital...

When we talk about innovation, most of us probably think of plucky tech start-ups. Little wonder, as ‘innovation’ is one of Silicon Valley’s favourite words, and a key factor in most tech companies’ growth. So our mental images of innovation are usually of developers, programmers, and technical teams. But innovation is born when people are free to find creative solutions to challenges and run with them – and that could be within any team, in any business. That’s why 85% of...

According to a recent global survey, 54% of CFOs describe themselves as ‘uncommitted innovators’. Change can be scary – not least for CFOs trying to stand up an innovation investment case. Breaking down the challenges; justifying change with rigorous, data-driven insights; and targeting projects at well-articulated pain-points are all ways to get over the mental block. These “uncommitted innovators” are defined as ‘would like to be more innovative but rarely get the time,...

Most business leaders recognise they need to innovate – or risk being disrupted themselves. But for many companies, relentlessly searching for the next killer idea could be doing more harm than good. The secret? Do your own (new) thing… Management guru Gary Hamel wrote more than ten years ago, “You can wait for a competitor to stumble upon the next great management breakthrough, or you can become a management innovator right now. In a world swarming with new challenges, you...

Smart organisations treat the finance function as a navigator, showing where to invest, what strategies make sense and how to deliver them. But that can only happen when CFOs innovate for themselves – freeing up resources to plot new adventures for their businesses. There’s an argument that without the incredible wealth and banking efficiency of the Medicis in 15th century Italy, there would be no Renaissance. Innovation in art, science, philosophy and politics was based on...

Whether it is speeding up your next rental car order or supporting scientists recreating the Big Bang that started our cosmos – Autonomous solutions can be a game changer at any company or institution tackling the on-going need for innovation. Remember the last time you landed safely at your holiday destination, picked up your luggage and pictured yourself diving into the sea until you got stuck in the car rental counter queue? Luckily, some car hire firms such as Hertz are...