You’d have to be in Cryogenic Sleep, or completely disconnected from today’s leading Consultancy firms, Social Media, and Digital Marketing Companies’ reach (highly unlikely) to be oblivious of the following acronyms, words, or phrases:
· AI
· APIs
· Automation
· Big Data / Analytics
· Blockchain
· Deep Learning
· Digital Transformation
· Digitalization
· Digital Twins
· Digitization
· Internet of Things — IoT
· Machine Autonomy
· Machine Intelligence
· Machine Learning
· Public and Private Cloud(s)
· Robotics
· Smart Cities
· Xtended Reality — XR
What is the point you ask yourself? Well, the point is, without a Strategy, you will get (or may already have gotten) ‘caught up in the hype.’
Hype? You ask. Well…Let me explain:
The CEO of a company, Company Y, sees an advert online regarding ’50 % productivity improvement of your workforce using Big Data Analytics and Automation’. She’s intrigued — contacts the CIO and requests a meeting is set up with the company, Company D, whose advert caught her attention.
The meeting is set up, all parties meet — lots of buzz words later, an agreement is reached for Company D to provide Time and Material services for $X MM over the next 24 months to show said improvement in productivity — after 24 months, everyone is scratching their heads as to why Company Y has not reached the professed productivity targets.
Does the scenario above Sound familiar — or at least comprehendible?
If you answered ‘Yes’ please continue reading, if not, you may stop now and save yourself another few minutes of reading time.
A strategy is essential when deciding to Transform your business. You need to understand ‘Why’ you want to embark on the Journey of Transformation. Then you need to consider your culture (people), what the change means for every role in your business, what you will do and won’t do (your processes), and how you will do or won’t do it (your value proposition) after the transformation — so the transformation is holistic.
If everyone in senior leadership does not have the same answer when asked questions about everything italicized above, that’s the first place to start.
Note: Any transformation decision and Strategy needs to be socialized company-wide with middle management and the rest of the workforce.
So, what does this have to with Digital Transformation?…
If/When an entity sells you a ‘silver bullet’ for implementing Digital Transformation at your firm, think twice, then re-read the following:
In the 21st Century, Digital Transformation (DT) is a unique journey for every firm. DT is underpinned by the decision to become a digital business, which occurs through digital maturation and technology adoption; moving from Digitization, Digitalization, and ultimately to Digital Twinning.
Digitization
· The process of changing from analog to digital format(s) (re people change-management, people training, files, processes, procedures, etc.)
Digitalization
· The use of Automation and Technology to turn the outputs of Digitization into value-producing opportunities
Digital Twinning
· The mapping of a physical asset(s) to a digital form. The process uses data from sensors on the physical asset(s) to analyze its efficiency, condition, and real-time status
Not all firms need to aspire to Digital Twinning — unless, of course, you are like GE Aviation, and you need to have your assets perform predictive analytics on themselves — manifested in the form of Digital Twins.
Similarly, Digitalization may be ‘nice to have’ for your organization — unless you work in a firm like the DoD, where they recently tried to implement one ERP system for all the military — which involved integrating a combination of technology and analytical solutions.
The start point of the journey for all firms embarking on the DT journey is certainly Digitization.
That’s all good, you say, but how do we know when we’ve achieved Digitization?…
For every firm and market segment, it varies, that’s why You have Domain Experts. When You get there, all essential (defined by each firm’s Domain Experts) business Sociology, Forms, Files, Processes, and Procedures will be in digital form. Necessary Business Methodologies (Intellectual Property), will be mastered — ready for Digitalization.
As mentioned previously, in this article, your firms’ transformation journey should always start with ‘Why.’ Start with Why, and the rest will follow…