IT deployment vital to success - Udoh

THE Managing Director, Progenics Corp Limited, Mr. Tony Udoh, has said that any firm that would create a marketing niche and set itself apart must embrace information technology edge in all its ramifications in today’s business environment, reports CHARLES OKOH.

He made this assertion at this year’s Finance IT Summit 2008, stating that business which focuses on a niche market is addressing a need for a product or service that is not being addressed by mainstream providers.

Mr. Udoh whose topic dwelled on: Creating marketing niche: technology vs people, said for an organization to create a niche for itself it must be ready to combine the best people with the most effective technology outlay.

“For an organization to create a niche for itself, that is, to set itself apart from the crowd and be positioned as a market leader, it must be ready to combine the best people with the most effective technology outlay,” he said.

He said this implies that the role of technology in relation to people is not antagonistic but complementary, adding that this is contrary to what most people have learnt about technology.

Udoh further said the process of creating a marketing niche starts from identifying potential clients and defining what their needs are, pointing out that the internet serves as a pool of information and has changed the way firms gather information.

“The cost of information gathering has been reduced drastically by the world wide web (www) technology. The internet technology has shrunk the world into a global village such that books, articles and write ups about certain areas of interest, written in different parts of the world can be assessed at one point with the click of a button,” he said.

The Progenics boss pointed out that internet banking is gradually becoming very common among stakeholders in the banking sector, stating that customers could check their balances, make payments, do transfers to other accounts from the convenience of their offices and homes.

“This technology is closely related to telephone banking, which is becoming part and parcel of everyday activity of everyone that is connected in any way with the financial sector. Terms like trade alert, Short Messaging Service (SMS) notification, flash me cash are almost perpetually on the lips of Nigerians and the proper implementation of these technologies will no doubt set a firm apart,” he added.

Another factor to ensure that a firm is set apart from its peers, he said, is effective customer service delivery which is consequent upon its internal operational efficiency and a combination of a competent and well motivated people and software technology being employed in the day to day running of the organization.


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