3 takeaways from the technology solutions for a digital-first news organisation webinar

Technology is undoubtedly a necessity for news organisations to thrive in the digital era. Whether transitioning to a digital model or pursuing further growth, many publishers are confronted with the challenge of identifying and adopting the right technology solutions to support their ambitions.

During our recent webinar on technology solutions for a digital-first news organisation, George Montagu, Head of Insights at FT Strategies, and Lindsey Jayne, Chief Product Officer of the Financial Times (FT), broke down some important lessons for publishers based on the FT’s own experience. Here are the three most important takeaways from the session.

The News Sustainability Project - a joint research effort conducted by FT Strategies and Google News Initiative involving 450 publishers - uncovered that investment in technology can be a differentiating factor for a news publisher’s commercial sustainability. The top performing segment of publishers allocated 24% of their cost base to technology, without compromising the quality of editorial outputs, compared to 18% for other publishers.

It goes without saying that investment alone does not necessarily determine commercial performance; it must be made carefully and directed to the right solutions. George highlighted that one of the most effective ways to prevent misguided investment is to clearly link technology to an overall company strategy. The technology adopted should be consistent with strategic choices regarding target audiences and the offerings provided to them in service of an overarching vision.

Looking at it from a different perspective, Lindsey emphasised that technology has evolved rapidly in recent years, and now solutions are not only more advanced but provide multiple functionalities. News organisations should proactively assess their technology and consider the broader application and use cases of the solutions they have already adopted - something that the FT regularly does. This, in turn, should influence the strategic choices mentioned above.

While many organisations are realising that technology demands appropriate attention and investment, they often struggle to know where to start or how to improve their existing infrastructure.

Broadly, there are two distinct approaches that news outlets have successfully adopted in recent years:

1. Single, integrated solutions which are out-of-the-box platforms that provide multiple features and are simple to implement, ideal for early- to mid-stage publishers; or
2. Combined, point solutions which stitch together interoperable systems that provide best-in-class functionality and features. These are often suited to more advanced publishers.

Regardless of the choice publishers make, Lindsey suggested they should try to avoid being hamstrung by vendor lock-in. As publishers grow in sophistication and scale, they often outgrow solutions and need to rely on different features and functionalities. Being locked into a single vendor can significantly complicate this, whether you need to augment existing solutions with other off-the-shelf solutions or build new customised features over the top.

Another dilemma news publishers face is whether to ‘build or buy’ technology. While these decisions need to be grounded in context, building may be more appropriate when a distinctive capability is a core competitive advantage or when greater flexibility is needed than what vendors can provide. The FT chose to build its own CMS - Spark - which enabled it to be tailored to the FT's workflows, allowing journalists to create content more efficiently. However, more recently many publishers are choosing to buy rather than build. George explained that this is perhaps because there is more mature technology, primarily SaaS solutions, readily accessible at an affordable cost point.

However, this doesn't mean that ‘build’ has become obsolete. Lindsey alluded to the arrival of Generative AI, which could encourage organisations, particularly in the near term, to build solutions locally as a way to experiment with the technology and discover the opportunities it can bring to their business.

To drive digital business growth, publishers cannot simply develop technology in isolation. Unlocking the true value of technology requires the development of complementary capabilities, such as processes and talent, that work in conjunction with the technology.

George shared an example of one of our clients who recently implemented a new CRM system but were dissatisfied with the adoption by employees. Upon investigating the possible causes, it became clear that people throughout the organisation felt they had not received adequate training on how to use the platform properly. As new technology is rolled out, upskilling existing employees can not only help generate buy-in but also ensure that they are equipped to practically adopt it.

The other capability that needs putting in place is effective organisational processes to break down silos and make careful decisions regarding when and how to deploy technology. Lindsey highlighted that the FT deploys cross-functional working groups comprising editorial, marketing, technology, and product teams to ensure alignment on the use cases and objectives for new tech solutions under consideration.

Another process area the FT has been actively nurturing is a 'test and learn' philosophy that absorbs failures and values iterative learning. Lindsey indicated that the process embedded at the company involves considering any new ideas - including technology - through the lens of the user needs they address and validating them through pilots before scaling. This approach reduces the risk of failure and minimises disruption to the business (read more here: How experiment design can derisk your digital strategy).

To hear more insights and practical considerations around technology solutions from George and Lindsey, please check out the full webinar here.