How many rooms do Canadian firms need to innovate?

A few days ago Microsoft Canada showed how it spent $20 million creating a facility where customers can come in and learn how to do a better job of using advanced technologies. As roomy and well-designed as it may be, however, the software giant is entering an already crowded space.

Typically when something like the Microsoft Technology Centre gets unveiled it gets described as the first of its kind in Canada, but this concept is tried and true. IBM Canada has had a similar facility for its software clients near Bloor and Church Streets in Toronto for years, and last year Cisco Systems of Canada opened its own Innovation Centre for partners and customers. The idea here is that customers who are struggling with a problem or perhaps beginning a new project could meet with Microsoft, plan out their strategy in the “Envisioning Center” with the help of Microsoft product demos, then execute it. The result could be more sales of Microsoft tools, of course, but more importantly it deepens the customer relationships between Microsoft and local enterprises. Or Cisco and local enterprises. And so on.

What are still relatively new, in contrast, are the facilities and resources that are being made available to Canadian companies at the other end of the spectrum. I’m talking about the startups and organizations like MaRS, Ryerson University’s Digital Media Zone and scores of others that educate young companies in how to grow and succeed. Of course many, if not all of the startups were only made possible through advancements in technology. In some cases, the so-called accelerators are also funded by organizations which also have a vested interest in getting closer to new ventures that might one day make up the Fortune 500.

Technology vendors creating such spaces understand, probably grudgingly, that they can’t risk a hard sell if they want them to be used. According to Ross Mistry, national director, Microsoft Technology Centres at Microsoft Canada, access to these resources is not contingent on a specific purchase process or phase. He also said (because I asked) that not everything in the centre needs to be Microsoft-based.

“We recognize that the majority of our customers typically have products from numerous partners and vendors,” he said, pointing out that some Microsoft products, like its Systems Center and Hyper-V offerings, are designed to support a mix of things from its IT industry rivals. “It’s in our best interest to ensure they end up with solutions that address their wide-ranging business needs.”

Rick Huijbregts, vice-president of industry and business transformation at Cisco Canada, describes their site as a place of “co-creation” between the company, its partners and customers. “It is a facility where we can demonstrate what the network makes possible,” he said.

While no doubt helpful and well-intentioned, third-party technology labs reflect the growing pains in Canadian IT adoption among organizations of nearly every size. The startups need to be educated in turning IT into a viable business, while the viable businesses need to be educated in how to turn IT into something that gives them the agility of a startup. No matter the stage of the journey, the destination seems pretty clear: a time when Canadian companies can lead both technology and business strategy more independently, and within their own walls.