Cast net wide for ideas, even into cyber world

May 22 2008 By Andrew Mernin

STEERING the technical direction of one of the most powerful IT empires on the planet can’t be easy – especially if that empire has already revolutionised the way businesses interact with each other the world over.

However, as Cisco Systems’ head of technical operations for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Ian Kennedy does just that every day.

Before his visit to the region for today’s Thinking Digital conference, the man with more than 30 years of experience in the industry spoke to The Journal about what the future holds for IT companies and what they can do to survive in fiercely competitive times.

Mr Kennedy – who has helped keep Cisco ahead of its rivals for 10 years – believes the key to building a successful digital business in today’s tough
climate is to adopt an “openly innovative” mindset.

He said: “Open innovation is about the move away from the traditional development of innovation internally, which is adopted by many large companies who expect to be able to generate all ideas internally by recruiting the brightest people.

“However, relatively small companies have been able to generate significant revenue despite being small on paper, by being open and not assuming they’ve got the best or brightest people, and collaborating with customers and other organisations.”

Mr Kennedy urges North East IT businesses to make the most of networking events, services offered by regional development agencies and to engage with customers as often as possible.

He also believes innovations such as Second Life – a virtual world created and developed by its residents/users – could be increasingly used by businesses looking to innovate. He warns firms to avoid operating as a closed book. He said: “Companies can often be overly protective of their ideas. You don’t have to give up the intellectual property rights to them, but having open communications with other organisations about new technology can help.”

In the future Mr Kennedy expects to see tech-savvy businesses across a range of sectors increasingly employ the services of virtual employees.

This month Newcastle firm Artingence revealed plans to develop the technology to allow call centres to be staffed by computerised “robot” agents that sound and respond like people.

According to Mr Kennedy, this type of technology looks set to become an important part of the way we do business in the years to come.

“People are actually prepared to give more information to a virtual agent rather than a real person,” he said.

PAGE TWO: Age shall not weary them