The digital is in the process of reshaping reality from the ground up, with farreaching consequences for companies. In order to understand the consequences and use the digital transformation to their advantage, companies must become familiar with its underlying mechanisms. The IT service provider’s propositions make an important contribution in that regard. They offer an introductory guide to the topic that will help companies to take steps towards their own digital transformation:
The digital transformation is unavoidable. In the long term, anything that can be digitalised will be digitalised. On the one hand, because that is what customers want, on the other, because it allows companies to establish new business models.
It is ubiquitous. That means the digital transformation will affect every area of our lives. It is perceptible in every sphere of our professional and private lives.
It is driving increased mobility and vice versa. The comprehensive availability of cloud services means digital data can be accessed from any location. Customers therefore expect to communicate via an increasing number of mobile communication channels.
It affects more than the manufacturing process. Industry 4.0’s potential is not restricted to manufacturing companies – it can also benefit service providers. That is particularly true when services relate to physical objects.
It involves more than just automation. Companies that only conceive of the digital transformation as a way to address a lack of continuity between media are missing the real opportunities: new products, services and business models.
It leads to cyber-physical systems. Those opportunities primarily spring from cyber-physical system environments. They allow real-world objects to create and transmit data. Cyber-physical systems involve hybrid architectures that include information systems and support business processes.
It requires monetisation. The increasingly comprehensive data available makes numerous digital innovations possible. However, even the most elegant digital idea cannot blossom into a business model without appropriate monetisation.
It requires elastic infrastructure. Increasing digitalisation leads to a need for more infrastructure. IT systems must accommodate changing performance requirements from the start and be capable of flexibly incorporating external data. That can only be achieved with scalable infrastructure.
It is interdisciplinary. New data doesn’t necessarily result in improved products and services. In order to fully exploit its potential, IT departments, statisticians, business engineers and specialists must work together closely.
It requires systems. Companies will not identify digital opportunities by brainstorming or blind luck – they need to take a systematic approach. The “Interaction Room for Digitalization Strategy Development (IR:digital)” is an appropriate tool.
“There is no way to hold back the digitalisation of processes, services and products,” explains Prof. Dr. Volker Gruhn, Chairperson of the Supervisory Board of adesso AG and Chair of Software Engineering at the University of Duisburg-Essen. “But there is one thing we shouldn’t forget in that process. The most important element can never be digitalised – the customer’s trust. The more virtual a provider’s offering, the greater the trust placed in them has to be. That is why companies must ensure that they bring the trust of their existing customers with them when they move into the digital world.”
Find the new whitepaper „Digitale Transformation – wir machen das jetzt!“ (Digital Transformation – we are starting right now“) on the adesso microsite http://www.WirMachenDasJetzt.de.
