When IT Anchors Hybrid Intelligence

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March 1, 2018

The best IT deployment is one that RUNS your organization even as it TRANSFORMS it. I believe that IT must offer duality, helping to improve presently defined operations even as it helps to redesign the whole firm. Yes, take care of today’s operational needs but have the capacity to re-engineer the organization of the future. In all, IT bows to the business objectives because the objectives are superior to things that make them realizable. Yet, an IT that transforms could help architect those objectives.

When you deploy IT that only runs, you have extremely good operational quality which can be executing an expired business model flawlessly. Sure – instead of collapsing in three years, you can get that done in six months.

But when you have IT that transforms, you get the excellent operational fluidity even with capacity to restructure a business model to fit the changing needs of your customers. Indeed, you are running and your head is lifted up to see far into the future. That is when IT becomes a competitive weapon, evolving from operational element into a strategic enabler.

The best part of technology is not what technology itself does but what it enables to happen. For a telecom company that used AI assistants (think of Messenger bots) to fix 82% of customer services issues, it has IT that is not just running it but also transforming it. Getting to say 90% resolution success may require human elements. That is Hybrid Intelligence – concatenating technology and humans to deliver superior results at scale. At the heart of this is massive cost saving which makes the firm leaner, smarter and more profitable.

Until your IT can anchor Hybrid Intelligence in your operations, you only have an IT that runs and not one that transforms. An IT that runs must evolve as it may be destroying the future of the business. You need an IT that transforms. Yes, one that anchors Hybrid Intelligence in your business.

Facebook Enters Nigerian Banking Sector

By

Ndubuisi Ekekwe

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March 1, 2018

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What is the largest market in Nigeria right now? Perhaps Lagos you may note. That is wrong – the largest market in Nigeria right now is Facebook Corp. Facebook Corp hosts excess of 30 million Nigerians users, far more than the population of Lagos State.

Within five years, most of the users would use messaging for commerce. Facebook Messenger would anchor those within Facebook while WhatsApp would drive the business outside of Facebook. When you add Instagram, you would agree that Facebook Corp is the largest market for any Nigerian consumer business.

Ecobank and Zenith Bank want to launch Facebook Messenger banking with MasterCard. That is a good move. As Konga learnt, its main competitor was not really Jumia but Facebook which took many of its marketplace customers. These banks want to reach out to the small businesses where they are, and most are within Facebook Corp.

“Brands and developers around the world are turning to messaging to connect with the 1.3 billion people who use Messenger each month,” said Kahina Van Dyke, Director of Payments and Financial Services Partnerships at Facebook. “We are pleased that MasterCard is developing a service on the Messenger Platform to help small merchants use messaging to manage their business and connect with their customers.”

The Opportunity

According to research done by The Fletcher School and Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, of the $301 billion of funds flow from consumers to businesses in Nigeria, 98 percent is still based on cash.

That is the opportunity, and there are rooms to grow digitally and electronically. Some banks are plotting strategically, going ahead to take advantages where these customers are located:

“In line with our goal to serve 100 million Africans by the end of 2020, Ecobank is delighted to collaborate with Facebook and MasterCard to enable underserved and unbanked micro-merchants with the opportunity to open an Ecobank account almost immediately and begin to receive instant payments using Ecobank Masterpass QR on the Facebook Messenger platform…,” said Patrick Akinwuntan, Group Executive, Consumer Bank, Ecobank Group.

“Our Bank is partnering with Facebook and Mastercard to introduce Masterpass QR as a means of driving financial inclusion and creating a new payment ecosystem for MSMEs and consumers,” said Mr. Peter Amangbo, MD/CEO of Zenith Bank Plc. “This initiative will help us encourage financial inclusion within the country in line with the strategic thrust of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Buyers and sellers now meet and conclude transactions in-store, online and on social media, so we are ensuring payments can also be made on these platforms via QR codes, without having to log onto other solutions or even take a break from what you are doing on Facebook.”

Note how these banks mentioned Facebook – yes, they are actually working directly with Facebook in these products. This goes beyond MasterCard as they would not have mentioned Facebook if there was no direct coordination with Facebook. And Facebook would not be involved if there is nothing there for it. No matter how you see it, Facebook is finding ways into Nigerian banking.

All Together

This is the expected natural trajectory as the ICT utilities take over the lands. Once Facebook perfects the integration with MasterCard on Messenger, it would do same on Instagram and WhatsApp. Then, it would be opened to any financial institution that wants. MasterCard is a natural payment aggregator, agnostic of banking institutions. Facebook would be the platform while MasterCard would act as the “interface institution”[payment processing] and banks the hosts [the accounts]. The implication is that over time few would bother to notice the hosts, focusing more on the platforms [once you have set up an account and put your bank details, there is no need to even remember the bank again as the transactions would happen on Facebook while MasterCard handles the underneath processing with the banks].

The banks are doing what they have to do: with Facebook Corp, there is no other alternative – you either fall in line or you go extinct. This is going to be the future of banking in Nigeria. No one goes to a bank in China; most go to WeChat to do banking. Facebook has a plan for that in Nigeria. The plan is now under execution.

This is March – Build Excellence in Your Business

By

Ndubuisi Ekekwe

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March 1, 2018

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Entrepreneurs,

As you begin the month of March, I want to challenge all of you. You may be small but note that there is glory if you demonstrate excellence in what you do. People are watching and any step you take is what they would use to judge you for engagements. There is no small or big job – every job is a job. You must put the best efforts to help your clients. It is always a great privilege that someone has hired you to offer services to his or her firm. It could be product supply, engineering design or even consulting services. Do not take it for granted: there is nothing you know many others do not have.

When I started my practice [the Advisory Services], I used to beg for speaking opportunities. I would even offer to cover my logistics. I needed platforms to reach out to people that would pay for my services. Those days, it was not straightforward. Then, the moments came: invitations to speak now come largely weekly. Instead of speaking for free, it is flipped that someone has to pay good money for my time [I give many free speeches in Africa but I charge fees in Europe and U.S.].

The message today is this: the best time to audition for opportunity is when there is no apparent opportunity before you. People are watching. And once those opportunities emerge, they know who to call. The best validation I ever got was when a potential client asked me to come over to discuss a project. At the end, I told him if we would need to send a proposal. He said “No, your prior works are enough proposals. I read what you wrote on this topic. Nothing needs to be added”. Just like that, we signed a contract and began the work. Of course, I am very happy that my client remains a fan.

Tenacity, focus and excellence will always win. And note that every job is a job – there is no small or big one. You must commit to absolute quality. Invest time to let people know what you do. That is the only way they would pay attention when the moments arrive.

Have a great profitable March.

Nd

Open Innovation Event

By

Ndubuisi Ekekwe

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February 28, 2018

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In our Advisory Services, we offer four services. One is called the Open Innovation Event. Others are Discovery Innovation Presentation, Discovery Innovation Workshop, and Advisory Services.

Open Innovation Event: In this engagement, we would run a mini-pitch competition within your firm as part of a process to mine ideas from your team. We understand that some of your staff members have great ideas. We would work with you to get them to share them. We will handle all aspects of the process – structuring the survey, analyzing the data, coordinating with representatives and deciding on the finalists. In a recent client engagement, 45 staff members of the client (out of 420 that submitted ideas) pitched ideas to judges (from IT, Strategy and Executive Management office). At the end, 5 of those ideas became products.

Contact: tekedia@fasmicro.com

The Most Important Gene in Great Digital Startups

By

Ndubuisi Ekekwe

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February 28, 2018

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Between building for platforms and not just products is also making things for users and not just buyers. Great digital companies turn customers into fans: they design and create products for users and not just buyers. Making things for buyers is an industrial age business model – they buy and they are gone. Today, products must have full-cycle value where the users are engaged at both pre- and post-purchases. Indeed, you are selling living experiences and not just things. Yes, you want the products to be part of the lifestyles of the users for you to have success. WeChat is a good example: it is both a platform and a full-cycle product with users who depend on it to run their lives.

Any digital product that does not have the duality element will struggle especially in consumer market: you need the product and the platform as one to make progress these days. You need to build platforms because they have the elasticity to evolve with your business logic. Products are static and fade quickly as markets change. Platforms can grow without bounds, anchoring new opportunities on top. The business logic of integration, process and decision making are best handled on platforms over products in the internet space. With platforms, you have CUSTOMERS; products deliver consumers.

Largely, the shift to platform-full-cycle product is anchored on network effect – the positive continuum which is based on the construct that the more users you have in an ecosystem, the better is the value to everyone. Digital companies like Facebook begin without thinking of sales. They simply focus on delivering the best possible experiences to customers. The goal is to help to reduce the frictions in the lives of customers. They spend money for years, earning no revenue, as they work hard to ensure users like and use their products.

You can associate the funding mechanism from venture capitalists as part of the catalyst for this. Non-digital firms typically begin lives looking for how to immediately get users to buy and spend money. The reason is that they have no platform to nurture. So, the only thing they gain is the sale that happens. The experience is immaterial: it is buy that drives the strategy.

As you build your business, hiring marketing, advertising and all the elements required to run firms, you must architect a roadmap on how that product must be structured for users and not buyers.

When IT Anchors Hybrid Intelligence

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