CLOUDY podcast | #08 Innovations - from idea to reality

Habit is an iron shirt, many people don't like change, how is it in your business?

In our country, we perceive innovation as an engine that basically moves us forward. The world is changing incredibly, technologies are changing. It's like a long-distance race, you can't stop before the finish line because everyone will overtake you. That's why we have to keep up with technologies, follow the competition, follow opportunities.

How does a more conservative customer react to innovation?

It's not exactly like we come to someone and offer them an innovation. First of all, you have to know the needs of that customer based on consultation with them. Customer feedback and demand are important.

Can we say that innovation is a question of prestige and success? When you innovate, you are more successful?

Definitely. It goes hand in hand. If companies aim to innovate, then of course it is also prestige.

How do you approach innovation? Is it everyday work?

Innovation concerns each of us – from management to individual employees. Everyone can come up with an idea and be involved in its implementation. We don’t want it to end with a developer coming to his subordinate with an idea and the idea ending up in a “drawer” with the superior. We have tools for this, where an employee can record their idea, even if it’s on a Sunday evening before going to bed. And we’re not just talking about products and the like, but also about improving processes and the like.

Plus, we also have an R&D (research & development) department that deals with product development with a focus on special systems, i.e. for the military or defense sectors.

Where do you look for new inspiration and ideas?

These factors are the market, competition, technology and, of course, finance. In the past, we have seen that the Canadian market is dominated by cloud services, and in order not to "oversleep", we have tried to build this competence here as well.

Do clients also give you innovation challenges?

Of course they do. They are in the “business” after all, and sometimes we can’t identify all the needs until they tell us about them. We don’t have a fortune teller.

What is important for innovations to succeed?

First of all, we need to know the market where we want to address innovations, know the technologies and know the competition. Of course, costs are also important – financing. We also do in-depth market analyses.

Where to find sources of funding and what are the biggest challenges in financing innovations?

We try to cover our innovations through our own resources and through external sources, for example through grants. We search for and monitor grants.

The biggest challenge is to find a balance between ambition and implementation and to find a balance between own and external resources. If you invest your own resources in an innovation, you have direct control over the development and implementation. If you finance through external sources, your hands are more tied, but there is less risk that you will not cover everything from your own resources.

Obtaining a grant is a complex process that requires meeting a number of requirements. But at the end of the whole process, when it is successful, it is of course worth it. But it is also of course a risk whether our project will be selected.

What are the upcoming trends?

I expect further developments in the field of cybersecurity or artificial intelligence, and for us specifically, this will be the further development of the tactical cloud.

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