A global market leader is an organization with a balanced mix of vision, innovation, and execution, along with the ability to adjust this balance in line with societal and market developments.
Vision requires a deep understanding of the market and engagement with your customers. It demands a delicate balance between current and evolving customer needs and the context in which they operate, anticipating their future needs based on your market insight.
Innovation is the development of software and products that respond to changing customer needs while allowing for rapid adaptation to market shifts and customer demands. Without innovation, organizations cannot achieve significant market changes that better serve customers and push the limits of what's possible.
Execution has evolved beyond simply delivering your products and services to customers. Once a product is delivered, the key question becomes: do you have the execution capacity to support your customers when they have a problem, regardless of their environment, product version, time, or location? In other words, can you evolve with your customers' changing needs and continue to meet their expectations, not just at the point of delivery, but throughout the entire customer relationship?
Becoming a global market leader means building relationships with your customers and establishing your market reputation through long-term engagement and leadership. It's also about focus. In the information management space, there are several areas in which a company can strive to become a market leader: digital experience, content management, supply chain, and so on. Focus requires a strong vision, knowing who you are as a company, and understanding your top priorities each year.
To become a market leader, you must combine innovation with vision and have a strong execution plan, all coupled with a deep understanding of the market and the ability to adapt to change. If a company cannot adapt to market changes and evolve to meet the changing needs of its customers, it won't lead the market for long.
Consider the evolution of mobile phones since the 1990s. Motorola was a pioneer and, for many years, held the largest market share in mobile phone sales during the late 90s and early 2000s. However, it was dethroned by Nokia in 1998 after failing to innovate. Nokia became the largest mobile phone manufacturer until Apple and Android entered the scene. Nokia's downfall was a surprise to many – as The New Yorker argued, the company was not at all behind in technological innovation, but it failed to translate its R&D investments into products people wanted to buy. In other words, it lost its vision, market understanding, and ultimately, its execution capability.
One of the main benefits of partnering with a global market leader is the assurance that the company won't go out of business or stop supporting the products you currently use in the near future. If a company is a global market leader, it has an established position in the industry and a solid understanding of where the market is headed. For instance, as customers transition to the cloud, many are betting on major players like Amazon or Microsoft® Azure precisely because they are stable companies. This is one way to ensure the long-term protection of your software investments.