{"id":578,"date":"2017-03-20T09:19:41","date_gmt":"2017-03-20T02:19:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simenteknindo.com\/news\/?p=578"},"modified":"2017-03-20T09:23:29","modified_gmt":"2017-03-20T02:23:29","slug":"digitalization-101-the-means-to-a-successful-enterprise-outcome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simenteknindo.com\/news\/digitalization-101-the-means-to-a-successful-enterprise-outcome\/","title":{"rendered":"Digitalization 101: The Means to a Successful Enterprise Outcome"},"content":{"rendered":"

Digitalization may find its way into the dictionary as a homonym, for all its multiple meanings, but it has already found its way into boardroom agenda! Simply put, digitalization is the work required to develop \u201cagility\u201d for an enterprise, in order to stay relevant and maintain competitive advantage in the emerging \u201cdigital world\u201d. Digitalization is the \u201cmeans\u201d to achieve the desired \u201coutcome\u201d: An agile enterprise, with enhanced customer experience and higher profitablity. Digital transformation is the process of moving into this agile state from the enterprise\u2019s current state.<\/p>\n

An enterprise that has the digital edge, has the capability of leveraging the power of convergence, which data in digitized form can provide across the value chain from product design to service. This enables said enterprise to make better informed decisions, transform key levers for \u201cfaster execution\u201d in time to market, flexibility, quality, safety & operational efficiency, while also creating new business opportunities<\/a>. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and its related opportunities only amplify the need for such a digital \u201cshift\u201d. The German government initiative \u2018Industrie-4.0\u2019 has also risen to address the need for horizontal and vertical integration in manufacturing Industries, while also promoting the efficient use of information and data to enable end-to-end engineering along the value chain. The fact should be well established, that every progressive manufacturing enterprise needs to embrace the digital edge, by leveraging the digital thread. The simple choice, for today\u2019s enterprise, is between being disruptive or being disrupted.<\/p>\n

The term \u2018digital\u2019 is typically used to refer to the storage of data or information in the form of digital signals. These signals are represented using the states of positive and non-positive, or the numbers 1 and 0. In this sense, the term is commonly used in such areas that require this storage, such as digital music. Based on this, the term \u2018digitize\u2019 describes the process by which other forms of representation are converted into the digital format. In a business context, \u201canalytics\u201d can be considered as the further digitizing of relevant information, creating new insights from which to make a better decision.<\/p>\n

Against this backdrop, \u2018digitalization\u2019 is used to describe a transformation that goes beyond simply substituting analog or physical resources for their digital or information counterparts. For example, books don\u2019t just simply become eBooks but complete interactive and multi-media experiences. Relatedly, in the enterprise, processes might become online dialogues between parties that were not previously directly connected.<\/p>\n

So in a business context, an organization that seeks to become \u2018digital\u2019 might focus on the automation of processes, with the objective of making them more efficient. By contrast, a company focusing on digitalization, might aim to realize more effective outcomes from those processes through the improvement of customer engagement.<\/p>\n

Examining the U.S. market specifically, most American firms dream of growth, but will invest in efficiency! Matt Reilly made some interesting points about the U.S. market in his blog \u201cCEO Briefing \u2013The Global Agenda: Competing in a Digital World\u201d. In the blog, Reilly stated that \u201c87 percent of companies, represented in the study, plan to increase their investments in research and development \u2013 with a significant portion of this investment devoted to digital technologies such as mobile, cloud computing, analytics, social media, ecommerce, and machine-to-machine communication. Sounds good; \u201cNew investment in innovative technologies\u201d makes a great headline for the next earnings call or annual report.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Reilly also mentioned that most of the U.S. companies in the study generally do not view digital technologies as an engine for growth. He mentioned that, in fact, \u201c68 percent said that their investments in digital technologies are primarily focused on process efficiencies and cost reduction, while just 25 percent said such investments were geared toward helping the company reach customers. The emphasis is on greater operational efficiency rather than on growing sales, opening new sales channels, or creating new products or services.\u201d<\/p>\n

Based on this view of the U.S. market, \u2018digital\u2019 is, at the moment, still a hotter term than \u2018digitalization\u2019. However, if you talk with many business executives today, they will more often tell you that they aim for digitalization. This is the outlook which is surely required, for enterprises to answer the question: \u201cHow to use customer engagement to transform my business and realize more effective outcomes of processes and growth?\u201d<\/p>\n

It is essential to accurately \u201cdiscover\u201d what enterprises actually want to achieve, in order to ensure these organizations can realize their dreams! Siemens highlights five distinct drivers that manufacturing sector needs to transform to be disruptive:<\/p>\n