Watch Your Flank: New Entrants Sidestep Competition

Companies often compete in specific swim lanes or markets. Depending on the market, there are broad implications and more finer details or sub-markets. The default competitors define their space and new entrants work within the bounds set by the stalwarts. That’s the typical approach.

Today, those boundaries are getting blurred with some lines becoming incredibly gray. New entrants are stepping into new spaces in the hopes of disrupting a given area of competition. And some areas are ripe for disruption…even when incumbents don’t believe it is possible.

Hyper focus on competitors

One aspect facing existing competitors is that they focus directly on their direct competitors. Who do they compete with? From what perspective? How do they compare, feature, functionality, etc. The market itself, analysts, and even customers all work to fortify this thinking. The market then works within certain parameters to define the given market and operating parameters.

This often leads to a sort of false fortification of a given market with competitors looking at each other and sizing up how they compare against the alternatives. The belief is that within one of these defined markets, it can make it harder for new entrants.

Non-traditional approaches

However, new entrants are not bound by the rules of the game. Nor are they bound by playing the same game. In some cases, a game that has played out for decades is about to change.

New entrants, not bound by the same classic thinking, are bringing novel approaches. Instead of playing by the rules or boundaries of a market, new entrants are not just changing the rules, but changing the game.

Blind spots sink incumbents

The false moat created by incumbents creates the base of the problem. Some might call it a bit of arrogance on behalf of incumbents that they cannot be disrupted. The belief that incumbents know best and have the strongest relationships is both a benefit, but also a challenge. Many companies rely too heavily on this thinking and it ends up creating a blind spot.

The question companies need to be asking is: Where are my blind spots?

New entrants are also not limited by the speed of a market. As they are changing the game and setting the rules, they are also able to change the speed of attack and the velocity in which they operate. In their words, they leverage the Velocity Chain to learn and accelerate their thinking. Incumbents, comfortable with their position completely miss this mis-match of thinking.

Watch your flank

From a vendor perspective, competitors are coming from new directions. Key is to open the aperture and understand the non-traditional new entrants coming into your space. Understand that customers are also looking for novel ways to solve business problems which furthers the drive to non-traditional approaches.

Take an honest look at the moat…it may be empty.

From a customer perspective, look beyond the incumbents. As CIOs are looking for new, novel approaches to solve business problems, the solution may come from a non-traditional provider. And that could provide the advantage for your own business if it aligns closely to create differentiation.

From the CIO perspective

The rules, and the game itself are completely changing. No longer are the incumbents the only possible suitors to support your business objectives. In some ways, incumbents, and their classic thinking could end up holding you back.

CIOs need to look beyond the offerings and look toward novel approaches to address a changing business landscape. As much as a company’s customers and business are changing, so must the thinking about how to leverage the best approaches and partners.