Nothing characterizes the tech industry more than its proclivity toward rapid change and growth, a habit that creates both benefits and roadblocks for businesses. Navigating these changes can be a challenge, especially when the aspects in flux have a direct effect on organizational structures. Chris Cummings (pictured) senior advisor to new technology ventures at Chasm Institute LLC, supports businesses in determining and institutionalizing best practices for figuring out the future through industry shifts.

“We deal a lot with customer conversations, that’s where it all begins. … Chasm is all about helping these companies process their thinking,” Cummings said.

Chris Cummings paid a visit to theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, and spoke with host John Furrier (@furrier) at SiliconANGLE’s Palo Alto studio in California to talk about industry shifts and the strategies forward-thinking companies are using to distinguish themselves from the competition.

‘If you’re going to fail, fail fast’

With cloud computing dominating much of the current conversation in tech, Chasm is working with many of their customers on utilizing cloud capabilities where appropriate, and releasing an unnecessary hold on data that can be successfully migrated for optimal storage.

These outdated practices plague vendor information technology departments as well. As business models make the shift from ‘old’ to ‘new’ IT, Chasm is helping many companies transition their traditional teams into roles that can contribute more value to the bottom line. “IT shops need to determine where they are adding value, not just where they’re enabling value driven by cloud providers,” Cummings said.

Chasm is working to update vendors not just organizationally, but cosmetically as well. Reinventing names for otherwise dull sounding products and services is crucial to getting them recognized by consumers. “Agility, flexibility, manageability, and simplicity. … Every vendor will say that they have those capabilities. How does that help you distinguish yourself?” Cummings said. Names that pair STEM adjectives with a heavy degree of hyperbole — think hyper, micro, macro, and ultra — will be the ones in fashion as we move into the future.

Looking ahead, Cummings predicts that more organizations will pursue relevance through strategic partnerships. “You’re going to see more of this aggregation phenomenon where one vendor can’t solve this entire problem,” he said, citing the unlikely partnership of Intel and Advanced Micro Devices.

As best practices become more widely adopted and businesses have to work even harder to differentiate themselves to consumers, Cummings advises vendors to fully engage in a plan of action to create that competitive edge. “If you’re going to fail, fail fast. That means that you commit full-time behind what you’re pushing,” he concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage.

Photo: SiliconANGLE