The Balancing Act: How to Grow Fast Without Losing Control

“I feel the need—the need for speed!” 

That line from Top Gun might be about flying jets, but it hits home for businesses too. Companies want to move fast, get to market quickly, and stay ahead of the game. But speed alone isn’t enough. You also need control to keep from crashing and burning. Let’s look at how three companies are balancing that act: bet365, some German carmakers and Walmart.

Three Companies, Three Paths

Different companies tackle growth in different ways, and each faces its own hurdles. Let’s look at three examples: bet365, Walmart, and Germany’s top carmakers, VW, BMW and Mercedez-Benz. Each one is taking a different route to growth, and each one shows how that balance of speed and control plays out.

First, let’s talk about bet365, the world’s largest online gaming company. As outlined in their case study, they are expanding rapidly into new regions, with a strong presence in South America and entry into multiple U.S. states. Their traditional markets are saturated, so growth now depends on handling the patchwork of local regulations, taxes, and compliance rules that come with each new territory. The challenge is keeping that expansion quick and efficient while staying on top of all the requirements.

Next up is Walmart, the biggest retailer in the world. They are taking the supply chain systems they built in the U.S. and rolling them out globally. This includes automation and AI that predict demand, rebalance stock across stores and warehouses, and cut waste. The aim is simple: keep shelves full, make deliveries faster, and give customers fresh products at lower cost. The challenge is doing all of this at Walmart’s huge scale without creating disruption in day-to-day operations.

Finally, let’s look at Germany’s top carmakers, including Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz. They’re seeing a slowdown in electric vehicle sales, so they’re turning to defence contracts to keep their factories busy. That’s a big shift because it means a whole new set of standards and a need for a different level of control. All these examples show that no matter the strategy, you need to know what you have and keep it under control.

The Dynamics of Speed and Control

Speed and control often pull against each other. Business leaders push for speed—new markets, new products, quick wins. IT teams push for control—stability, compliance, risk management. Both are right in their own way. Speed matters because if you can’t move fast, you risk missing out on opportunities. Control matters because without it, processes break, risks increase, and trust falls apart. The tension is constant: too much speed without control creates confusion and risk, while too much control without speed means wasted chances and stalled momentum.

When the balance tips too far, the consequences are obvious. Companies chasing speed without enough control often face cost overruns, failed launches, or regulator pushback. On the other side, businesses that cling too tightly to control see projects stall, opportunities missed, and energy drained by endless checks and reconciliations.

That balance really pays off in practice. For example, bet365 could expand into new regions within months because they had a clear handle on their assets. Or a global retailer that achieved 95% asset discovery in just four months, making PCI audits and changes much smoother. Those real numbers show why balancing speed and control matters.

Asset management is the bridge between speed and control, tying the drive for quick growth to the discipline needed to stay safe and compliant. It provides the visibility, accuracy, and governance that keep control strong, while also giving business leaders the clarity and confidence to move fast. Without that link, speed and control stay in conflict. With it, they can reinforce each other.

Approaches to Asset Management

Addressing this balance comes down to how you approach asset management. You can either go bottom-up or top-down. Bottom-up rarely delivers speed and gives poor resolution on control, while the top-down route is designed to get there fast, drive adoption, and strengthen governance and control.

The Bottom-Up Approach

The bottom-up approach is like trying to hoover up an ocean of data. You start by pulling in every inventory data you can find. That might sound thorough, but it leads to a lot of problems. It takes a long time to gather all that data, and once you have it, you often end up with data quality issues. The information can be messy, and it’s hard for people to adopt the system because it’s so complicated, made worse by the size and diversity of the hybrid infrastructure, the lack of relevant information for different teams, and poor data quality. These factors all contribute heavily to weak adoption. In other words, you spend a lot of time and effort and still might not get the value you’re looking for.

The Top-Down Approach

The alternative is a top-down approach. Instead of starting with all the data, you start with what you actually need. Think of the honeycomb model as the way this works. At the bottom, you have your asset and configuration data. Above that, you have the processes that manage that data. And at the top, you have the use cases that define what’s needed. Each column you build focuses on coverage, relevancy, timeliness, accuracy, and depth. In other words, you make sure you can see everything you need, give each team the right view, keep data fresh, make sure it’s accurate, and provide the right level of detail.

This top-down honeycomb approach delivers some big benefits. It’s fast because you only gather the data that matters for each use case. It’s easy for teams to adopt because they see right away how it helps them. It keeps data quality high because you’re focusing on a well-defined slice of information each time. And importantly, it means you deliver value in an iterative way. Every couple of months, you’re powering up a new use case or a new business outcome. That way, you’re not waiting years to see results. Instead, you’re building up value step by step.

The Takeaway

In the end, it’s all about giving businesses a way to keep growing without getting lost in complexity. By focusing on one use case at a time and making sure each piece of data is relevant and timely, companies can move fast and stay in control. That’s how you balance ambition with stability, and that’s the real takeaway. In a couple of weeks, we’ll be sharing a short video with a practical roadmap to help you put this approach into action. So keep an eye out for that if you’re interested in the next steps.