Warning to companies who think copying the latest successful startups will keep them relevant: “If you’re trying to catch up, it’s already over,” according to Art Langer (pictured), professor and director of the Center for Technology Management at Columbia University.

How does a company outpace disruption? They must rally the information technology troops in new ways, Langer told Dave Vellante (@dvellante) and Stu Miniman (@stu), co-hosts of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio. (* Disclosure below.)

IT is unique in an organization because it must fight on two fronts: It not only supports but also drives a business forward, he said. “Strategic IT,” as Langer calls it, can yield a competitive advantage, he told Vellante and Miniman during the Nutanix .NEXT event in Washington, D.C. 

Auto-disruption 101

Business professionals may well be tired of experts telling them they must disrupt themselves or be disrupted. They don’t have crystal balls, after all; how about some practical advice?

They do have one asset that can help them predict the future if they know how to use it, according to Langer. “It’s the data. It’s the way we handle the data. It’s the way we secure the data,” he said.

Companies need people very skilled in deriving insight from data. But even if they can turn that insight into a market win, there is no resting on laurels in the age of constant digital disruption, Langer pointed out. “How long will people last on the Dow 500 these days? Maybe two, three years as opposed to 20, 30, 40 years,” he said.

When the heat goes out of plan A, they ought to have data-backed plan B, C, D and beyond cooking in the lab — or better yet, just launch them all at once and see what sticks, Langer stated. “IT needs to come out of its shell in that area and say, ‘I have to launch five, six, eight, 10 initiatives. Some of them will make it; some of them won’t,” he concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Nutanix .NEXT US 2017 event. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for Nutanix .NEXT US. Neither Nutanix Inc. nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE