In their report , the market researchers write that digital platforms are becoming the linchpin for good customer relations. They expect that IT investments will increase to 459 billion US dollars worldwide in 2022. The most decisive growth drivers are improved customer contact and support, the Customer Journey in technical lingo. Consequently, IDC and Liferay recommend that all manufacturing companies put customer needs at the heart of their strategy. Responsibility for this no longer lies solely within the realm of marketing and sales. Mature ecosystems with close relationships to all stakeholders must be created to create a consistent customer experience, even as the number of collaborations increases. At present, the greatest obstacles in this regard include the silo mindset found in many companies and the lack of consolidation of different back-end systems.

The customer has always been king, and hopefully still is. However, an explicitly customer-centric strategy would yield many advantages for companies, writes Mathias Weber of Gebhardt & Partner Markenberatung in a guest article for the Federal Association of Industry Communication . According to the expert, this includes a greater willingness to pay and increased buyer loyalty as well as a higher profitability of customer-centric companies.