“This cannot be the year of talking. Of wishing. Of wanting. This has to be the year, you get it done!” – Eric Thomas
This was not the official 2023 mantra for Launch by NTT DATA, but it sure could have been. The end of the year always has us twisting our necks all over the place — first we look back and then we look ahead. It’s just how we’re wired as humans.
That look back is especially satisfying this year because we really got it done. In honor of our team of visionaries and our bold clients, we put pen to paper (finger to keyboard?) to look back at the biggest things that made 2023 such a game-changer.
1. The launch of Launch
Anytime you can bring five market-leading companies together to combine their talents for building amazing products, you’re going to create incredible results. Our mission of strategizing, shipping, and scaling great software with meaningful business outcomes officially began on April 1st, but there was no foolery here. In the six months since, clients have raved about our unique combination of boutique service with global scale.
HFS Research even took an early look at what makes Launch different by design and praised our ability to help clients consolidate their internal capabilities, adopt a mindset that revolves around experiences, and turn product innovations into impact for the entire organization.
2. The Aim-Engage-Grow framework
We’d rather bite into a glass sandwich than be cookie cutter, but we also know that turning bold ideas into market-defining products can’t happen without a solid framework. That’s where Aim-Engage-Grow comes in.
Aim helps us invent what’s next through intense (but efficient) discovery into what your audience needs. Engage gets a minimum viable product (MVP) into your customers’ hands as quickly as possible so we can gather fast feedback. Grow is where we focus on market traction, product expansion, and scale — like customer-requested features or additions that expand the business’ overall target audience.
3. Nexus
What started as Nexient’s annual customer gathering turned into a massive celebration of Launch’s customers. We even launched the first-ever Launch Awards to honor those who dared to dream biggest. Parallon (HCA Healthcare), Levi Strauss & Co, Carnival Corporation, Trinity Industries, and Terra Kaffe all reached the pinnacle of digital experience development — all in different ways, with different tools, but with the same trailblazing mindset.
4. The relaunch of Catalyst
This is another fantastic example of what happened when Launch became an umbrella for so many hard workers and great ideas. The Postlight Podcast had been a huge hit since 2016 (to the tune of 20,000 downloads each month, in fact), and the Launch team wasn’t about to let this award-winner ride off into the sunset. Instead, we renamed it “Catalyst” to pay homage to all of the great ideas it helps spark.
These episodes aren’t just Launch employees swapping Eureka moments — we also love to feature our clients on Catalyst so their real-world successes can be a springboard for other enterprises. The end result? Honest and challenging discussions with the world’s best tech practitioners, who also show off their entertaining human side.
5. Our favorite hobby: your success
We’re lucky to have some brilliant folks on the Launch team, which is why we came sprinting out of the gate with a plan to share as much of their expertise as we can.
Our blog is a steady stream of insights, lessons, and solutions. We created an entire workbook devoted to our Rapid Product Validation design-led sprint that turns ideas into output in as little as three weeks. We developed a go-to online hub and a book dedicated to how your organization can become a Frictionless Enterprise. And keep your eye on this space — we’re kicking off 2024 with Innovation OS, a programmatic plan for enterprises to operate at the highest level of sustained innovation.
Not too shabby for six months, right? Don’t expect any let up in 2024. Challenging the status quo is in our DNA, and the excitement and energy we see as our clients turn into disruptors is as vital to us as oxygen. So cheers to an incredible launch of Launch in 2023. Onward and upward in 2024!
