I'm not tracking you, you're just that predictable!!

Here's a joke: Data Privacy and anonymity.

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Tell me the last time we had a conversation in our friends and family about how suggestions are becoming more and more personal and intrusive almost godlike predicting our future steps and behaviours while browsing online.

?Is it by chance, or some strategic alliance between companies are at play.

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#ONEALGORITHMTORULETHEMALL

Every other day we are hearing of another data breach, social media CEOs (FB, Tiktok you name it) being grilled in front of the Congress of their Data protection laws. Just a few days back Mark Zuckerberg agreed that if the US govt wants they can ask for user personal data not to mention that Facebook had paid just around 725M US$ to settle the Cambridge Analytica lawsuit in 2022(Selling data to the British Govt). Project Nightangle, Google location breach.

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Whether we like it or not we are slowly becoming a global surveillance state: The reality of the famous Novel by Motihari born George Orwell 1984 is slowly becoming our reality.

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Enough of this dystopian take. How are companies and users both getting benefitted by this labyrinthine strategic alliance of data companies?

-Personalization – Improved services – Enhances conveniences –Lower costs

We can see a change in whole dynamics of strategic alliance

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1970s Product performance,

1980s Position in the secotr(Brand),

1990s Capabilities and competencies(The real era of strategic alliances : CD developed by Sony and Philips powerful chips my Motorola and Toshiba –licensing alliance).

?Now in the information age people are coming to terms to believe that knowledge shared is more powerful than knowledge protected; kind of ironic what I was talking above; functional benefits of a product is almost over people are vouching for emotional benefits and care from products/brands/companies. User engagement/churn rate/click-through rate/revisits are now becoming metrics by which companies in the digital age are now valued in the market.

It is imperative that companies now form strategic alliance based on similar user interests/psychographics only. Demography/geographic barriers are almost non-existent now.

More importance to dynamic alliance involving the hidden assets of the two parties in terms of skills, knowledge and competences drive the market. Structure of the alliance almost always evolves during negotiations and initial operations. What stands out is customer satisfaction and valid perception. To set global standards and confronting competition and further economies of scale and scope.

?All these depend on trust, senior management support, ability to meet performance expectations, clear goals and partner compatibility.

We can see very careful capture of social media space by the Meta company and how it has utilized the synergies between different platforms to carve out the megastage of social space for their users on which all of the play of buying and selling is happening in front of our eyes.

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Data has become the new oil the more cloud space one has the more resources it controls literally. As a matter of fact Google data servers alone consumes about 2% of current global electricity production.

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Balancing competition and cooperation in global digital companies can feel like walking a tightrope, especially in the realm of data management. ???? As more companies buy and sell data to personalize content for users, it’s essential to find harmony between strategic collaboration and staying competitive.

Here's how companies are getting it right:

• Collaborate where it adds value: Partner with complementary firms to strengthen market position without cannibalizing business.
• Compete with innovation: Drive internal advancements while respecting the collaborative efforts.
• Ensure transparency: Be open about data use to build trust, even when working with competitors.

I would like to thank my Strategy guru Prof. Rohit Kumar for his guidance and support in understanding this complex realm of smoke and mirrors of competitive and cooperative strategy.

How are you balancing this act in your organization? Let’s share ideas below! ??

Hashtags: #DigitalStrategy #DataManagement #Coopetition #BusinessInnovation #GlobalTech #DataDriven #Personalization #AI #TechCollaboration #Leadership