The
challenge. Digital
Transformation is not a linear process. Many enterprises have already
kickstarted a number of digital initiatives. Business compulsions and
competition from outside might have been the factors for such initiatives but a
coordinated and concerted effort to transform the enterprise from the
traditional to a customer-centric organization requires much more than such disparate
initiatives. Such a transformation would touch the vital organs of the business
– Executives and employees, business processes and operations and even products
and services.
Many
business decision makers as well as technical influencers do not see the
urgency to transform yet. The top management has settled down in the
traditional style for too long and many decision makers are quite seniors in
their field who had seen success in the traditional way that the mandate to
transform gets little attention. It is an elephant in the room that nobody
dares to deal with. They keep reacting to threats many of the times instead of
shaping the future for their enterprise themselves.
The
reality. Enterprises
that aspire to transform use technology better than their competitors. They
build not only digital capabilities but also leadership capabilities to stay in
the right path during this journey so that the desired destination is reached
with minimal obstructions. They may need to build skills in different areas and
redirect their efforts from time to time. A joint research program between
Capgemini Consulting and the MIT center for Digital Business recommends a comprehensive
strategy for this transformation in enterprises.
Enterprises
must first realize that the business scenario that they have been thriving on
for so long is fast transforming into a digital oriented one. They must sense
the real threat from outside in the form of startups and fast movers who are
already enlightened on the role of digital to transform the way businesses are
forced to go. The disruption created by digital technology is real and here to
stay so that there is no choice but to jump into the bandwagon of digital
transformation. They must do a deep dive into their existing capabilities and
skills that would need course correction, development or rebuilding.
Enterprises
must also focus on investment in the right areas for the digital transformation
to be put on the right path so that it takes off and stays at the right pace.
The whole organization needs to be mobilized towards the achieving of the
pre-determined goals with the digital initiative from the top and percolating
to the lower levels. Taking the organization together in the digital journey is
essential and leadership skills are mandatory for this journey to be
successful. While there might be various milestones in the way, enterprises
should have a clearly defined destination in this journey. Some of the
milestones might be reached sooner than the others but sustaining the
transformation throughout and well beyond the perceived destination is
essential as the business environment is set to see more disruptions than ever.
The
challenge. There is
a real undeniable threat by startups to the established businesses that have
been ruling the market for centuries. The traditional business models are
losing relevance today. Businesses can sell products that they don’t produce,
can provide customers with services that they don’t directly offer, and many
are moving away from selling products to selling product based services.
Customer
preferences keep changing and the value they expect from goods and services
that they consume is increasing. Technology is contributing hugely to this
shift in customer sentiments. They want to connect to their brands through the
smart devices that they hold in their pockets. They are willing to pay for the
additional value they get from such systems that bring them closer to their
service providers.
The
reality. Thankfully,
technology is contributing heavily in adding greater functionality to improve the
worth of products and services that enterprises offer today. 50% of new
business processes and systems will incorporate IoT in their products by 2020
and 25 billion connected “things” will be in use by then. There is also a
change in the way employees look at this transformation in customer
expectations. 41% of employees say mobile business apps are already changing
the way they work. 40% of survey respondents say predictive analytics held the
most potential to predict business events.
Enterprises
can now create new revenue opportunities with intelligent technology that spans
across systems. The Cloud offers larger avenues for innovation and holds the
power to uncover possibilities that remained dormant all along. Data that once
used be stored for compliance purposes are now being put to greater use through
analysis and interactive visualization for decision makers to create new
roadmaps for products and services like never before. Predictive analysis helps
them look ahead and track market dynamics and change in customer sentiments.
Digitizing
the enterprise can transform business practices and enable re-designing of business
processes to stay ahead in the marketplace. Businesses need to re-invent products and services and deliver new market offerings that caters
to customer needs.
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security to safeguard business as you innovate.
The
challenge. 81% of
medium businesses say that technology solutions could help improve business
outcomes or run the business better. Meanwhile, technical decision makers agree
unequivocally that there are two technology challenges that top the list –
implementing new solutions or upgrades & containing technology costs. And
both are seemingly at loggerheads. As the technology landscape keeps changing
by the minute today, even newly installed solutions lose their relevance very
quickly. Unfortunately, many conservative enterprises are still stuck with
their decade old legacy systems. This results in compromised security, efficiency
and productivity. Businesses reported a 34% increase in financial losses
($2.7M) due to security incidents even in 2014. Today, with the advent of
sophisticated threats targeting enterprises, the impact is much higher.
The entry
of the Cloud has brought a radical approach to this paradox. 87% of midmarket BDMs
say Cloud solutions would help the business grow.
The
reality.
Enterprises can drive maximum business efficiencies with flexible, intelligent
technology. They can capitalize on the IT investments already made for
on-premises solutions by tweaking them to sync with the challenging
requirements of the business. The cloud can come in as a less costly
alternative when new needs arise in the system. Moving critical workloads to
the cloud could also mean greater scalability at reduced costs. A hybrid setup
can bring flexibility to the system by allowing administrators to weigh and
choose the better option for their mushrooming needs.
Enterprises
must realize that the greater the investment in digital the simpler it gets to
manage and run the business. Less systems to maintain and more freedom to
expand (or contract) brings in a desirable flexibility. Aligning IT with the
business process with the help of a DevOps team would optimize business
processes, enable more efficiency and faster decision making.
Going
digital also ensures business continuity and improves security and protection
against unexpected interruptions, data loss and modern security threats.
Optimizing
operations involves digitizing corporate functions and developing a digital
culture all around the enterprise. A
state of the art Enterprise Resource Planning mechanism is essential for
minimizing wasted hours and financial resources. All efforts must be focused on
maximizing the business benefits derived from IT Projects. Minimizing clutter
in IT would lead to fewer systems to maintain and less cost to keep it running
– a lean IT. Service operations need to
be digitally streamlined to produce the greatest value by reducing response
time and increasing agility.
The
challenge. More
than half of the workers in midmarket enterprises require access to company
data. A survey says that on an average 14 types of mobile apps are in use in
small and mid-size businesses but only 13% of such businesses are fully
prepared to handle security challenges especially related to mobility. This has
resulted in an increase of 23% of the cost of a data breach on an average. And
the average price tag per breach is nearly $3.8M.
The
reality. Empowering
enterprise with mobile and cloud technology is essential to survive in this
cut-throat competition economy. Productivity increases exponentially when
people work together in teams seamlessly. A well-connected enterprise is bound
to lead digitally by bringing people and information closer and making them
easily accessible to stakeholders by breaking geographical and traditional
boundaries. Setting up multiple communication channels to improve connectivity
between individuals and data sources increases the potential of the decision
makers to arrive at informed decisions.
Freedom to
connect to the enterprise information from anywhere anytime boosts the
confidence of the staff. Many enterprises see faster sales closures because the
employee on the field is able to connect real-time with their colleagues and
access information about products that tend to get updated dynamically.
With the
increase in the number of devices handled by people, it would only be wise on
the part of the employers to allow them to use one or more devices of their
choice to connect with enterprise data. Connecting on the go would give
them an added advantage to participate in strategic discussions and
decision-making session from remote locations. Mobile apps would help them
focus on their work anywhere they are. Visualization of data and interaction
with the data models would help them dig deeper into the relevant data points
would provide them a clear advantage while negotiating deals.
With the
advent of the cloud, employees don’t have to get stuck to their work cubicles.
Cloud empowers them with mobility and freedom to move about and get closer to
their clients and customers. Cloud has thrown open possibilities of reaching
out to customers breaking geographical and market boundaries.
Inherent
with the increase in mobility is the risk of exposing enterprise info in user
devices which might be pilfered or mishandled carelessly. So, it is essential
to protect business data wherever it goes and safeguard it from unauthorized
access and modern threats. Governmental regulations also require customer data
to be kept confidential and that only for a certain period of time until the
purpose for which it is collected and stored is met.