In this episode, we are joined by Michael Mueller, partner and co-founder of Acrea, an innovative management consultancy which focuses on helping companies thrive in the digital age. Michael started his career at McKinsey after which he went on to hold a number of senior IT management roles within the banking industry.  More recently he has developed his entrepreneurial career by founding a startup B2B travel company.

What Was Covered

• The three most typical ways businesses are being impacted by digitization – through the creation of entirely new business models, by establishing new customer experiences, and via transforming the delivery of whole parts the operations of a business via technology
• The challenge established businesses face in dealing with their technology ‘debt’ in contrast to startups who can build their infrastructures from scratch at a fraction of the cost
• How a “failure to communicate” still exists between the IT and management groups of businesses – even as the importance of technology to operations continues to grow
• The reality of customer acquisition costs for startups compared to the established client bases of existing businesses

Key Takeaways and Learnings

• The need for organizations to think long term when it comes to managing their technology costs
• The importance for startups to understand their intended customer base and to face the reality of customer acquisition costs
• The need for IT and management to adopt a common language to gain better understanding of how technology impacts their business, what it can do, how much it costs