Interactive CEO unveils its new customer-centric strategy, Unite28

Alex Coates exclusively tells CRN Australia how this strategy will focus on three considerations: where, what and how.

Alex Coates has only been in the CEO seat at Interactive for 13 weeks and is building a strategy to ensure the Aussie technology company stands out from its competitors.

The strategy, Unite28, is based on three considerations: where they’ll play, what they’ll play with when it comes to products and services, and how they play.

When so many providers focus on networking, cloud and now AI, Coates explained that differentiating yourself as a service provider is becoming increasingly difficult.

“I am building a big part of Unite28 that looks to differentiate on our ‘how’. Being clear when we go and talk to customers, what's our personality and how do we show up?” She said.

“What can you expect from being an Australian real deal industry provider that doesn't sugar coat things, that tells you how it is, and that tries to turn everything that's topical into tangible.”

Coates, an IT industry stalwart has more than 20 years’ experience in technology, beginning her career in London then moving to Australia work at Fujitsu in a global role. Since then, Coates worked at Datacom where her last role was as managing director.

Coates explained that Unite28 drives them to be more customer centric, “Thinking through what industries we want to play in,” she said.

“It thinks about products and services with a very deliberate lens about what we need to be in the future, what we can let go of from the past, and what we need continue to supercharge.

“It then thinks about the differentiation being how we show up to our customers.”

The name for the strategy, Unite28 was crafted around collaboration and future planning.

“We’ve called it Unite28 because at its core, the strategy is about bringing people, customers, partners, and purpose together to create something greater than the sum of its parts,” Coates explained.

“The word ‘unite’ reflects our belief that collaboration – across teams, across industries, and with our customers – is the key to tackling the challenges and opportunities ahead.

“And ‘28’ marks the year we’re aiming towards – a future that’s more secure, more sustainable, and more connected.

“This isn’t just a roadmap; it’s a shared commitment to building that future together,” she added.

A team building exercise

When putting this strategy together, Coates said this isn’t her strategy but the entire company’s.

“Strategy is a team game. It's a very inclusive process, and we've been very deliberate about that. We've had the whole company involved in it and we've had all of our senior leadership involved in it,” she explained.

“It's not ‘Alex's strategy’. A couple of people have made the mistake of saying that, and I've been very deliberate [saying] this is our strategy. We're crafting our own destiny, and that's an inclusive process.”

Coates said she hopes Unite28 will craft the company with specific industry insight, noting they don’t need to be all things to all people.

“Bridging that gap between technology and industry, and that white space in the middle as to how can technology solve for an industry's problems and opportunities,” she said.

“From a product and services mix, which is arguably what you deliver to a customer, from a technology stack, that's quite hard to differentiate.”

Home grown technology

Coates explained she wants to ensure the company is fostering skills, talent and technology in Australia.

“We care about the skills that we're nurturing in [Australia]. We want to grow talent here, and we want to make sure that our communities and our country can ultimately thrive,” she said.

Unite28 was also crafted around seeing an increase demand for Australian companies wanting Aussie-based partners.

“I'm seeing all the green shoots of that you overlay that with political uncertainty and only amplify that [demand].

“You've got to be able to create value beyond a price point because if you're not offshoring, and you're not going to be at the same price point as a potentially global tech provider.

“You've got to be able to work with companies who see that value in working with an Australian tech company,” she ended.