Ecosystems through collaboration: Growth as an answer to uncertain times

The earth is one big village - is a sentence everyone has heard. Some people treat it with a pinch of salt, the others - more realistically. But what does this actually mean? For sure, nothing connected to some kind of regression or stagnation, but quite the opposite: With the progress of civilization and technology, everything is more and more connected to each other, which often means that a given entity no longer exists alone. Exactly as in biological ecosystems, where the organisms from the fauna and flora spheres co-exist and one’s action has an impact on the others, be it directly or indirectly- we as humans behave in some sense similar, contributing to one big living organism which develops and learns all the time.

Section titled Change is constant Change is constant

Mentioned progress in today’s world is great as it enables lots of new opportunities, however, it also means constant changes - in business, economics, and political environments. Moreover, everyone sees and experiences how the world stood on its head recently. Considering multiple world events that happened (and keep happening) one after another during the last 2-3 years, one thing is for sure: Uncertainty is more certain than ever before - talking of political or economic environment, let alone its impact on people’s lives or businesses. Quite challenging conditions to start something new with a business, but we at Storyblok believe that it’s totally worth it.

Section titled Everything depends on perspective Everything depends on perspective

What if we could look at it from a different angle? New conditions force us to set ourselves in new situations, which require finding new solutions. From a business's perspective, new opportunities and tech-growth causes higher customer expectations for existing products and services, as the competition in the market grows. Not until long ago, it was enough for a company to control its services-delivery process on its own, as customer needs were pretty predictable and accurate. It is not the case today anymore. Due to constant changes in the market, companies must follow and introduce innovations, redefine their profiles and offers, and accelerate business strategies. That’s why companies decide to reach out to partners to create a wider ecosystem that besides corporation benefits serves as a booster to fuel the whole business performance. Such collaborations gain incredible importance and are perceived as one of the biggest trends while being present on the market. It’s a marker that indicates progressive business nowadays, especially in the tech industry which develops at an incredible pace. For these reasons, Storyblok has launched the long-awaited Technology Ecosystem, as we believe that together with cooperating companies we can deliver great value whilst developing and growing together.

Section titled Ecosystems fuel growth Ecosystems fuel growth

In simple words, the mentioned ecosystem is a collection of technology solutions that can be implemented together through one main hub. It’s also a form of establishment between business entities to co-create and spread collective values to a given audience, for example a particular range of customers. As the main keys to success were already developed well by different parts of an ecosystem, implementing, comparing, and setting them all together can lead to incredible outcomes and innovations. There are lots of tech-solutions categories that can be perfectly tailored to work together to fill their missing puzzles in order to form one great tech solution hub. For example, in our Storyblok Technology Ecosystem we can speak of such business profiles as eCommerce, personalization, localization, deployment and hosting, search, or Digital Asset Management (DAM). In an ideal world, the best ones want to co-innovate with the other big players on the market. However, it seems not to be the only essential indicator of getting into collaboration with others. Added values driven by tech-ecosystems are really multidimensional, but what’s important, they are all linked by one major value, which in today’s world seems particularly precious - growth. At Storyblok, we truly believe that these aspects - growth and collaboration - are driving each other as in a closed circle, generating a unique value for our customers.

Section titled We can grow by feeling safer together We can grow by feeling safer together

Before performing any action, one aspect is crucial in due to move on, even during uncertain times: feeling safe. Forming a tech-partnership in an ecosystem means doubling your resistance to the chaos in the market. In this context it’s worth mentioning that investors, who whilst seeing the business’s growth will be more willing to trust this developing project which can lead to their investments' eagerness. Betting on the company that was already trusted by another business entity is of course safer than having agreements with unknown players. It of course translates on the revenue and other financial aspects, which can be treated as, apart from being immune and secure as a company, the next opportunity of the business growth. Safety can be seen also from another point of view - if one technology with a given solution happens to have any threat or doesn’t work properly for some reason, it doesn’t mean that the whole solution crashes. Other members of the ecosystem can serve in this kind of situation as a backup, making the whole solution hard to stop working as a whole.

Section titled We can grow by developing unique products We can grow by developing unique products

Increase of available tech products causes growth of the competition in the market. Having an original solution is an art nowadays and it’s more and more complicated to create something unique. The traditional approach in the case of implementing or creating services on the market doesn't fit the modern business world. Product differentiation seems to be the key to attract new customers as well as to keep them. Companies belonging to tech-ecosystems are more likely to develop unique solutions that can cater to the needs of different audiences as they have the mix of their best features and functions available together or in a wished-for combination. It enables cooperating companies to create out of the box solutions that are not to be found anywhere else.

Section titled We can grow by delivering common solutions We can grow by delivering common solutions

Being a part of a tech-oriented ecosystem often means adjusting existing strategy regarding product distribution and its offer presentation. It is not just about selling products anymore, as the customer’s internet presence is so multidimensional that one particular product, say technology invention, might not be able to cope with all needed aspects. A collection of tech-solutions, on the contrary, opens new opportunities to create not a particular product, but the whole solution consisting of a couple of technology integrations that can be useful in the long run. Such an approach, that provides customers with perfectly tailored services, drives a true value and will eventually lead to forming a long-term relationship with the audience, as the service itself in this context can be understood as long-term problem solving, looking ahead, and being one step before the competitors.

Section titled We can grow by reaching targets faster We can grow by reaching targets faster

A collaboration in an ecosystem means doubled forces and capabilities for achieving desired goals. As the company is in some sense not longer functioning all alone, it can have better performance in terms of first-time and current users, community, number of leads, or increase of conversion rates. All of this put together can also mean shortening the sales cycle, which accelerates the whole business as well. Moreover, developing significant projects together and introducing innovations makes the whole structure more attractive to investors who will be more willing to support this kind of collaboration - what translates to having more revenue streams.

Section titled We can grow by co-marketing We can grow by co-marketing

Being a part of an ecosystem means diving into a huge ocean of networking opportunities and activities which not only broadens a company’s horizons but also makes it possible to see lots of challenges from other perspectives. Moreover, a given business can be seen from another angle as well: Being perceived by the audience through the lenses of other cooperating companies (who are big players in the market) shows new functionalities and possibilities to integrate a given solution into one’s project. Cooperation between companies also means cross-marketing joint initiatives, which can perfectly increase brand awareness and visibility. Organizing joint events like webinars, case studies, marketing videos, or co-selling actions helps spread the participants’ core values throughout the world, helping customers find the best-of-breed solutions for their businesses. In our Storyblok Ecosystem we are happy to develop common co-marketing initiatives with our partners, in order to tell the world about our amazing solutions opportunities.

Section titled We can grow by learning and inspiring each other We can grow by learning and inspiring each other

Learning is a never ending process and entities who are engaged in forming a tech-ecosystem know it best. Whether two big players in the market cooperate or there is a well-known business player having common projects with a startup - learning experience goes both ways. More experienced companies can serve as role models to smaller enterprises, the others share their different, fresh point of view of given situations or project-related issues. Sharing knowledge, as well as inspiring each other, is a really big thing whilst creating best tech-solutions for customers. With new knowledge and experience, values and services elaborated by tech-ecosystems structures not only fulfill the audience's needs but also go far beyond what customers think they need.

Section titled Growth is the answer Growth is the answer

Being a part of a tech-ecosystem is exciting, but also demanding, as it means that a given entity is no longer functioning alone. From the other side, however, what is vital is that it still remains independent. It takes a lot of time to establish a common trusted ground that will be the base for working on projects that can prospect to every part of the ecosystem. However, the values that are reached and brought through this collaboration, in the end, leave far away all the complexities and difficulties that were handled during the process. This value is something that would be more difficult to get while operating alone - growth. Actually, every aspect of being part of an ecosystem comes down to development and never ending learning and growth process. Are times uncertain now? That’s for sure, but being put into new challenges generates a new set of skills and experience, which makes an enterprise unique and filled with new energy to inspire others, attract more customers and be the whole package of best-of-breed solutions within the market, in the same time becoming the best version of itself.

Check out our freshly introduced, amazing Storyblok Technology Ecosystem to see how we love to grow and develop together whilst delivering best value to our clients.