Denis Opudo
According to a recent research carried out by Oracle dubbed You and IaaS, 72% of businesses are in agreement that moving infrastructure to cloud technology makes innovation easier. But only 36% of the businesses are actively moving their infrastructure to the clouds. Nigeria has just rediscovered herself after above two decades of economic recession. Many businesses have decided to re-examine their IT spend. They have also decided to look for the best technology for their businesses while minimizing cost.
Currently, the success of Nigerian economy is attributed to the SMEs group. The group adds up to 90% of the country’s market. But a big number of them are in businesses that can only succeed through the use of cloud technology. Post-startup companies and entrepreneurs in Nigeria should be happy with the launch of Endeavor’s office in the country. The startup launched its office in the country in February 2018. Endeavor is a global startup organization that selects, accelerates and mentors entrepreneurs that have a huge impact and are able to scale their ventures.
The Global Innovation Index 2017 Report ranks Nigeria in the 119th position in relation to innovation. The country is performing below its development level. But the performance of sub-Saharan Africa is recommendable in terms of innovation. The region has had many countries among the innovation achievers compared to any other region. Nigeria is targeting to recover back its economic supremacy within the next few years. It is necessary for the country to keep on improving on its performance in innovation. This will help it to be at par with the momentum of the region. There are still hopes in the country despite the recent Index. Sectors like education, health, agriculture, financial services, and energy have recently developed various innovations. For instance, ThriveAfrica uses the crowdfunding platform to organize investment for farmers. It also gives tech-driven advice and offers individuals a chance to invest in agriculture. This helps it in attaining its goal of food security.
Government’s vision to be the among the biggest world economies by 2020 is the main influence of cloud adoption. This is a good target driven by a good focus on the use of accessible and modern tools, innovation and digital adoption. We are going to go through three important myths that hinder transformative innovation in the country.
Short term thinking hinders
In many cases, business decision makers are usually advised to have a broader mind. For instance, they should not set quarterly target. This is because short-term targets are a blockage to the long-term set IT system. Despite the fact that short-term reasoning slows progress, quick goals are friends to innovation. Many innovators who have been successful globally use the short sprint cycle of an agile method to come up with new applications. They then roll the updates out at the highest speed. Chatbox, AI, and blockchain are moving into the mainstream business functions at a high speed.
Assumptions of knowing your competitive environment
The modern cloud services are in a position to bring a swift change into the market within the shortest time. This is because they are in a position to empower various businesses to change ideas into practice. Therefore businesses must always be ready for any changes that come their way without making assumptions. They should improve their agility each and every time.
Innovation projects cannot be set and be forgotten
There is no any other way to innovation apart from investing in human capital. Human capital is the most crucial resource in the business. The best way of running a business is by investing heavily in the knowledge and skills of your human workforce. The team should always be at par with the changes in technology and learn on how innovation can be attained. Therefore it is important for businesses to remain competitive and relevant in case they target to compete on the global stage. Technology and clouds surrounding the business will be important in driving innovation.
