{"id":28111,"date":"2024-01-23T09:18:09","date_gmt":"2024-01-23T09:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/?p=28111"},"modified":"2024-01-23T09:18:09","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T09:18:09","slug":"what-is-digital-darwinism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/what-is-digital-darwinism\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask the Expert: What Is Digital Darwinism and How Can Businesses Embrace It To Improve CX?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to another instalment of \u2018Ask the Expert\u2019, the series of interviews RingCentral runs with influential thought leaders from around the world, including UC and CX consultants and analysts. In this series, we aim to find out what\u2019s at the cutting edge of UCaaS and CCaaS.<\/span><\/p>\n

Spotlight on Digital Darwinism and the evolution of CX<\/span><\/h2>\n

For this month\u2019s instalment, RingCentral\u2019s Ian Nevin, Director of International <\/span>Consultant Relations<\/span><\/a>, spoke with Don Haddaway, Founder and Director of <\/span>Artisiam<\/span><\/a>. Artisiam is a specialist CX consultancy focused on the design of cost-effective and innovative CX.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Don has spent 35 years in the customer contact industry and before setting up Artisiam, he held senior roles with HSBC, AT&T, BT, Thomas Cook, M&S, and Legal & General.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In this interview, Don explains what Digital Darwinism is, why it\u2019s relevant to businesses, and how he expects communications and CX to evolve over the next year.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, tell us Don: what is Digital Darwinism and what does it mean for businesses?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Sure. Well, the term originates from Darwinism \u2013 Charles Darwin\u2019s theory of biological evolution by natural selection. Digital Darwinism is a term that was coined by Tom Goodwin in 2014 and then also used by Brian Solis, a digital analyst and anthropologist. It\u2019s defined as \u2018the evolution of consumer behaviour when society and technology evolve faster than your ability to adapt.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To survive Digital Darwinism, Solis says companies need to not only adopt new technology, but also make a cultural and strategic shift toward embracing change. <\/span><\/p>\n

That doesn’t just mean that change is embraced by the people who use the technology; it also needs to be embraced by the people who create the technology, because that technology has to adapt to people’s usage and to the environments around it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Just like the \u2018survival of the fittest\u2019 concept in nature, companies that don\u2019t adapt to change are at risk of becoming extinct.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Don<\/p>\n

There\u2019s an important branch of Digital Darwinism called Convergent Evolution, which is when previously separate technologies evolve similar features and eventually come together. A prime example of that is the smartphone. Previously separate pieces of equipment or applications \u2013 phone, camera, calendar, email, internet browser \u2013 were converged into one device.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Right, thank you. So how do you think CX technology will evolve next?<\/span><\/h2>\n

That\u2019s a good question. Well, the evolution is now happening within cloud technologies. So at the moment, most UCaaS and CCaaS systems are separate, which means the front office and back office aren\u2019t working together as seamlessly as they could be. So the natural convergent evolution is to <\/span>intelligently combine the UCaaS and CCaaS worlds<\/span><\/a>, and that\u2019s what we are starting to see now.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This convergence brings clear benefits. Front-office and back-office users get access to the features and functionalities of each solution (CCaaS and UCaaS) through a unified platform, which elevates quality, reduces agent stress and enhances CX. It does this by facilitating seamless interactions and improving efficiency.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"AI<\/p>\n

How is Digital Darwinism driving innovation and disruption?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Leveraging these evolving technologies and capabilities allows businesses to innovate and disrupt markets \u2013 perhaps by creating new services, or more effective services, or new routes to market.<\/span><\/p>\n

One example I use is a global electronics manufacturer that was operating in over 70 countries and over a billion customers. During the pandemic, this business pivoted from being just a manufacturer that supplied resellers, to being a global e-tailer that now sells their products online directly to their customers and communicates directly with their customers. This means they are reducing costs, getting better control over their brand narrative, and gained direct contact with the customer, which led to better insights about their customers, and higher customer intimacy and loyalty.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"hyper<\/p>\n

It\u2019s almost come full circle \u2013 ironically we’re trying to get back to the sort of service levels that existed almost 200 years ago, before mass consumerism and globalisation. Then, people had truly intimate knowledge of what a particular client needed or wanted \u2013 whether it was your local shoemaker, or your local butcher.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, we\u2019re able to get back to something like that for the mass market, using direct digital communications and unified communications.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What will be the key innovations for 2024 then?<\/span><\/h2>\n

So for 2024, I think the focus of innovations related to CX will be around:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n