10/29/2018
By Peter High. Published in Forbes.
A few weeks ago, I co-hosted a meeting with Gamiel Gran of the venture capital firm, Mayfield Fund. It was held in Santa Monica, California, and it included a dozen leading CIOs from Greater Los Angeles. The CIOs offered thoughts on areas that have them excited and others that keep them up at night. Ultimately, there were five topics that rose to the top of the minds of the gathered CIOs:
Managing Through the Threat of Amazon
The breadth of Amazon’s reach and the threat that it will inevitably become broader still was of concern with the gathered executives. Retailers feel this most acutely, as one retail IT executive expressed, “If Amazon points their radar at us, we are in trouble.” But it is important to note that B2B companies such as industrials and OEMs are also concerned. One of the areas highlighted was B2B distribution. As their logistics and shipping capabilities grow, this could be a natural extension of their offering.
There is a general consensus that there is no way to “Amazon proof” one’s business but that it is important to continue to innovate and to develop an ecosystem of partners that will help bolster one’s self against the threat of Amazon or other digital native organizations for that matter.
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