?? Your August Update: Navigating the complex world of technology

A note from our Managing Director

Trying to keep on top of what technology is out there, who the best vendors are and making sure that you are maximising the value from your technology stack can be an almost impossible task.

Media executives, hamstrung by the complexity - and cost - of the process, cannot be blamed for continuation bias, namely, keeping the same technology despite major changes to their business and market context. Although transitioning from one technology to another can be disruptive and expensive, it can also unlock efficiency savings (e.g. faster processes) or revenue opportunities (e.g. driving higher engagement and conversion rates).?

So how can organisations realise the benefits, while mitigating the headaches??

At FT Strategies, we aim to provide objective, pragmatic advice to organisations, grounded in our experience of delivering organisational and technological transformation at the Financial Times and supporting over 500 media organisations with their respective structural and strategic changes.

Given that aim, I am excited to announce our newly released How To Guide:?Technology solutions for a digital-first news organisation.?Offering a snapshot of the playbook we provide for decision-makers assessing their technological requirements, we’re delighted to extend this to our community. We will also be running a must-see webinar with the FT’s Chief Product Officer, Lindsey Jane, to go deeper into the topic -?register now.

It promises to be a busy rest of the year for FT Strategies and I hope for you all. If you would like to discuss how we can help your organisation, please do?get in touch.

Aled

WEBINAR:?Technology solutions for a digital-first news organisation

Wednesday 13 September |?2pm BST

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In this exclusive webinar, FT Strategies speaks to Financial Times’ Chief Product Officer, Lindsey Jayne, to discuss the essential technologies necessary for operating a thriving digital news organisation. The session will cover topics including:

• The role of technology in the wider commercial strategy
• The components of a purpose-fit technology stack
• The process of evaluating build vs buy decisions
• The wider capabilities required to unlock benefits from technology
• A Q&A with Lindsey Jayne and FT Strategies

Don't miss this opportunity to gain valuable insights from FT Technology leaders into the key technologies driving successful digital news organisations.

Register here.

Recommended Reading

On Monetisation & Subscription Strategies:

• Unlocking Customer Lifetime Value: The Power of Personalized Subscriber Onboarding at The Washington Post (The Audiencers)
• Netflix’s password-sharing crackdown pays off with nearly 6mn new subscribers (FT)

On Customer Engagement & Value:

• The gender consumption gap for online news and how publishers can address it?(PressGazette)?
• How a new two-minute quiz measures misinformation susceptibility?(NiemanLab)
• A different kind of “both sides”: The L.A. Times’ new section De Los aims to draw Latino readers without the paywall?(NiemanLab)

On Customer-Centric Transformation:

• The Workers Behind AI Rarely See Its Rewards. This Indian Startup Wants to Fix That?(Time)
• On holding back the strange AI tide: There is no way to stop the disruption. We need to channel it instead?(One Useful Thing, Ethan Mollick)

On New Product Development & Ventures:

• What one journalism school learned after taking over a rural weekly newspaper?(NiemanLab)
• The Guardian announces new roles in the Caribbean, South America and Africa, and expands its reporting on race in the UK and US (Guardian)