This article was originally written by Avanade alum Dave Carmichael.

It makes sense that nature is often used as a metaphor for business. Businesses “grow” within an “environment” and they must “evolve” if they are going to “survive” and “thrive.” 

It’s just as well nature doesn’t have to deal with new species being created on a regular basis or the likelihood of extinction would be even higher than it is now. But that is exactly the law of the jungle for businesses today. New startups are appearing all the time. Their DNA is different. Start-ups aren’t burdened with the handicaps of established enterprises. That’s part of what enables them to be disruptive. When they burst on the scene with new business models and new ways to solve customer problems, established businesses struggle to respond.

For established enterprises designed for a different era – be that from a technology, political, environmental or social perspective – it’s a daunting challenge to respond and ideally go on to disrupt markets themselves. With bolted-on technologies, organizational structures and business models, the legacy-laden company can’t operate with the agility, effectiveness and economics of businesses built for what’s happening in the market today – and tomorrow. 

Ready by Design – the three strategies for success
But established enterprises must respond if they are to survive. They need to be prepared to respond immediately to market changes and more: They need to thrive and be ready to disrupt the market. They need to be Ready by Design.

When you’re prepared for anything and shaped to adapt and evolve then you’re Ready by Design. How? As the diagram below shows, three key strategies are required for the company that seeks to be Ready by Design: 

1. Design innovative applications at speed
2. Liberate your talent
3. Unlock the value of the cloud

An established company that implements these broad-based changes is ready for new competitors and new market disruptions. The Ready by Design company creates new digital business models that disrupt markets, achieving faster time to market, so it can operate at the speed that customers demand and competitors envy. It increases business agility in a way that changes the economics of everything it does.

We’ll be expanding on how to achieve these strategies to become a Ready by Design business in future blog posts, but if you want to find out more now, watch the video below.