In my previous blog, I spoke about how business transformation can be brought about by owning and implementing a Center of Excellence (CoE). A Technology CoE allows businesses to stand out against competitors by building capabilities in rare, cutting-edge technologies and strategizing accordingly for company and customer growth. Technology CoEs, as you must be aware by now, create technology specialists that help customers kickstart their projects and in turn, contribute to a positive ROI.
In this blog, I am going to be talking about how we implemented it at Nitor, although it may sound like an advertisement for my company, which in one way or the other it is, I think not a lot has been said around the internet on how you should go about honing niche people in the first place. We made robust investments in developing Technology CoEs for leading services through the use of almost all the methods I have listed down below.
- Pre-sales activities
- New Project enablement
- Analysis of Complicated Tasks
- Extensive R&D
- Project Technology Advancements
An elegant combination of these tools coupled with the ability to find and monetize opportunities within the unknown helped us develop our Technology CoEs and achieve a competitive edge.
Six technologies to focus when you build your TCOE
At Nitor, we have built dedicated Technology CoEs for six of our key technology offerings:
DevOps
So, the developers and operations team in any organization seem to remind me of the Roman God Janus- sort of their own opposites, facing opposite directions. Using DevOps, meant helping clients of Nitor get their teams to work in unison and speed their software development process along with the pace of their business. While the evolution of DevOps as a Service piqued the interest of the business community, Nitor made pioneering investments in developing relevant expertise through a dedicated Technology CoE that helped deliver best-in-class solutions to businesses.
This means not necessarily the first step, but one must focus technology is DevOps.
Data Engineering
Data, data everywhere, literally! With massive amounts of structured and unstructured data being generated every day, a dire need for data engineering and analysis arose. We spent time developing expertise in technologies such as synthetic data generation and explored a myriad of data governance tools to add to our Technology CoE that helped us garner expertise in data engineering and analytics. So, you need to hone data engineers, they are like human microscopes if you ask me, peering into data and unearthing things you will thank them for later.
AIML
If you can get to think, then do it! That’s what we did, using artificial intelligence and machine learning so our machines can think and learn, unlearn, and relearn-something I guess humans need to do as well. We explored a plethora of technologies in the realm of AIML-including Deep Learning, H2O.ai, Airflow, ML.net, and more-to execute over 16 projects with teams of 25+ members forming a dedicated Center of Excellence.
If you aren’t focusing on AI now, then you probably need to start doing it probably after you finish reading this sentence (Drats! should have said blog-hope you still with me).
Blockchain
The secrecy of it all is what is appealing to most, I think. We focused on implementing and integrating Multichain Blockchain as well as on developing distributed Blockchains with tools such as Hyperledger Explorer, Rust Web Assembly, Substrate, etc. to hone the skills of implementing Blockchain in business. From defining the use case, developing a Proof of Concept (PoC), scaling, and finally executing, Nitor invested in enhancing efficiency at every step of the way with the help of its Blockchain Center of Excellence.
Focusing on Blockchain will be a good to have digital asset.
Mobility
Nitor’s expertise in Mobility service is defined by extensive experience of over a decade coupled with deftness in a robust tech stack that defines a best-in-class Center of Excellence. Our approach of defining the customer’s needs and translating them into a high-performance app in an agile manner sets us apart from our competitors. And if you ask me, it must be something that should set you apart as well. Exploring what can happen when you get your business onto your customer’s palm shouldn’t need too much convincing from me now should it?
Testing and Automation
Nitor’s credentials in Testing & Automation CoEs comprise Test Automation, Data Testing, Managed Testing Services, Performance Testing, and Security Testing. With these, we cater to industry segments such as Healthcare, Retail, BFSI, etc. Testing what you make and automating what you do can take you places, so focus on that too, amongst all the others that I have mentioned above.
Now that you know how and where you can implement Technology CoEs, you too can replicate them for the various technologies that your business is invested in. Here is a comprehensive list of the Dos and Don’ts of Technology CoE that will accelerate your implementation process.
Firstly, it is essential to have complete participation from all the stakeholders, right from the initial phase. Any misunderstanding or misalignment about the goals could lead to failure of the Technology CoE’s effectiveness.
Secondly, we need to remember that communication plays a key role in facilitating this and can be done through periodic check-ins with stakeholders where progress is presented backed by relevant data. Here, you can also discuss the gaps in understanding and alter the course, if needed.
You need to be patient in the initial phases of CoE when you are laying the groundwork and mastering your technologies.
Technology CoEs tend to work well when there is a core team assigned to them right from the beginning. A key point to note is that changing these teams frequently may lead to disruptions in the end results, thus it is best to avoid doing so.
A Technology CoE entails upfront costs incurred and then you realize the returns when things start picking up. All the involved stakeholders must be aware of this fact.
While patience is certainly a virtue when it comes to implementing a Technology CoE, it is also important to be practical. It is essential to define your cut-off period in terms of realizing the investments on the CoE.
While choosing a technology, it is expected that you choose one that has a good market traction. You need to ensure that you’re not investing in anything too outdated or too forward. Aim for that Goldilocks zone and you should be good to go.
By using this as a starting point for your journey to implement Technology CoEs, you will be able to:
- Strategize for company & customer growth
- Create technology specialists
- Build capabilities in rare & cutting-edge technologies
- Help existing customer kickstart their projects
Reach out to us at Nitor Infotech and learn more about Technology CoEs as well as how they can help you achieve exponential business growth.
