The future of digital transformation is happening now, and it is driving the future of all industries. This article highlights just about everything you need to know about the impacts and trends involving digital transformation.
No matter where your company resides on its digital journey – or even if you have yet to start with digital transformation, this article is just for you.
What is Digital Transformation?
Digital transformation refers to the concept of applying innovative uses of digital technology to solve traditional business problems.
For example, in a narrower sense digital transformation might refer to a simple concept such as ‘going paperless’. Yet, on a larger scale, it might refer to ‘achieving digital business maturity’.
Digital solutions not only enable organizations to achieve new levels of efficiency through automation, but they also open doors for creativity and innovation (rather than simply enhancing and supporting traditional methods).
Although applying the use of digital technology to solve traditional problems can offer numerous business advantages, many organizations have yet to begin the journey with digital transformation.
Digital Innovation: Where to Start?
With numerous applications, methods, and strategies, it can be difficult to know where to even start with digital transformation!
If this is the case with your organization, – don’t worry, you’re not alone.
According to a research study performed by Accenture and the World Economic Forum, 80% of executives stated they were completely convinced ‘digital’ advancements would fundamentally change and transform their industry within the next 5 years!
That’s right. Eighty percent! … And they’re not wrong at all!
In fact, digital technology has not only already begun to transform industries, but it has also started to transform the way the world experiences products. Despite the ability to recognize the effects that digital processes will bring, only 17% of the studied executives stated they had a strategy in place to address the challenge of digital transformation.
This left a shocking 87% to admit they had no current digital strategy in place whatsoever! This is exactly why, if you have not yet started your digital transformation journey, it’s important to realize A) It’s not too late and B) You are not alone. There is no better time to start than now!
Organizations are realizing the significant impacts that the digital transformation era brings and how it’s going to drastically change just about everything when it comes to the way we do business.
The Impact of Digital Transformation
The process of digital transformation is creating entirely new ways of doing business. It has begun to create new experiences for customers while adding entirely redefined value propositions for mature product segments.
This era of digital transformation has started to impact and define what products are and what they mean to businesses and consumers.
Product perceptions are changing
Digital trends have also started to influence purchase decisions and sales processes. As the digital world has advanced, the average consumer is making purchase decisions with a Product as a Service (PaaS) mindset.
This means the rise of digital transformation has driven consumers to be sold by the outcome of the product – the recurring value. Manufacturers can address this shift in the market demand archetype by embracing three technology categories – Internet of Things (IoT), analytics, and mobile.
The future and advancement of technology is happening now
Established power plays and industry lines are beginning to blur. You cannot wait until some time in the near future to start your digital journey.
If your organization is going to succeed going forward, you won’t want to be left behind in this new industrial revolution, or you will fail.
Whether or not you’ve noticed if your industry has been affected yet, the key message is the effect of these disruptive technologies doesn’t discriminate one sector or industry. Every industry will see a major impact due to these digital technology advancements… And it is happening right now.
‘Business as usual’ is no longer an option. Organizations must adapt in order to survive.
The future of Digital Transformation: Smart, Connected Products
Digital transformation is reinventing products. Products from cars, to jet engines, to pumps, to heavy equipment, to medication, and more!
Machines, assets, and devices are starting to communicate, learn, and react to newly accessible context as they exchange and leverage data from sensors.
We are talking about the area of ‘living products’ – meaning transformative products that are responsive, collaborative, reactive, and responsible. Whether products are B2B or B2C, there will be a totally different process in the way we think about how our customers are using our products in the near future.
The future is now. Don’t let the opportunity slip away.
The first step in your digital transformation journey should be a strategic one. Understand where you are, where you want to be according to your current framework or understanding, and where you’d like to be as you embrace future technology and evolve with changing markets and new opportunities.
EAC Product Development Solutions would like to help you begin your transformation. We provide the people, technology, and services to make any transformation successful. The first step should be a Product Development System Assessment (PDSA). This will help you understand the opportunity that lies in front of you. Request more information on the PDSA today and start taking your digital transformation seriously.
It is not too bold to say the Internet of Things (IoT) is just about everywhere. Some even say that IoT will have a greater impact on business and productivity than the introduction of the Internet itself.
Whether you embrace it or attempt to look past it, the wave of IoT has already started disrupting many industries.
So what exactly is the Internet of Things? Well, if you haven’t read the HBR article by Michael Porter and Jim Heppelmann, I encourage you to do so.
I am referring to the concept that our physical and digital worlds, in which we have always compartmentalized into separate realities, have begun to converge into a single new reality.
This new reality with the IoT has started to change the way we do business.
Our strategies have begun to take our physical products, parts components and factories, and connect them to our digital systems.
This has allowed us to collect data, analytics, performance measures and much more.
Although there is so much that you can learn about IoT, Here are 10 things you need to know about the Internet of Things.
1. IoT Can Fuel Your Existing Business Initiatives
The Internet Things should not be thought about as something separate and distinct from your business strategy, but rather as an opportunity filled with unlimited capabilities.
This revelation could possibly be the exact catalyst needed to meet your existing business initiatives.
No matter what your business is specifically looking to achieve, IoT can be a real game-changer.
Some businesses have used smart connected operations to discover efficiencies while reducing risk.
Others have integrated smart connected products by modifying and creating new assets and services to increase revenue.
I have also seen companies incorporate smart connected solutions to quickly bring products and services to the market.
Despite your industry, an IoT strategy can be shaped to help fuel your existing initiatives.
2. Everyone Over Designs
Moving from IoT strategy to value is complex.
There are lots of distractions and rabbit holes to go down.
Achieving your IoT initiatives requires focus.
By this, I am referring to the importance of strategically mapping out the innovation that you are looking to drive.
Before deploying an IoT strategy, make sure to ask yourself if the concepts you are looking to implement match to the strategies you are pursuing.
3. There Is No Time Like The Present
Don’t over think it, just get started.
Your company has a chance to take part in one of the greatest economic value adding opportunities of a lifetime.
This is your chance to embrace change and see all it has to offer.
Companies that are able to identify the opportunities and quickly bring to market solutions with IoT will be the leaders of decades to come.
4. Think Wrap/Extend, Not Rip/Replace When it Comes to the Internet of Things
The idea behind integrating the IoT into your business strategy should evolve around bettering your processes, not replacing what you have done so far.
This is your time to pro-actively use the IoT to drive growth and optimize your current business operations.
5. The IoT Stack is a Huge Help
The IoT stack is a handy way to break down any IoT project into manageable chunks. Think about it this way.
Before adopting innovative technologies your company must establish frameworks, protocols, and standards that are consistent with your business strategy.
Your framework should revolve around the problems your business is looking to solve.
By breaking down your IoT solution into 5 layers you can better understand the business technology tradeoffs that are needed at each level and the system as a whole.
6. Zealots and Laggards Are Everywhere. Beware.
It’s easy to get distracted by the daily grind and to put off getting started.
Change is a scary thing for all of us, so it’s easy to procrastinate.
Doing nothing is one of the biggest threats when it comes to the Internet of Things.
The reality is, big change is what can define success.
Don’t let your company develop a reputation as a technical laggard in the IoT arena.
7. Avoid The Simple Small Tool Sets
If you’ve ever heard the saying “go big or go home”, it defiantly applies to an IoT strategy.
So often I see companies who are hesitant to make a big change, resorting to small easy to adapt ideas.
If your company wants to see real results, you must avoid wasting your time on the small and simple projects.
Running test pilots to assess potential value is not how you will reach your real strategic initiatives.
To see change, you must make a change. This is when you need to roll up your sleeves and make a connection to your real business issues.
8. The Control Engineers Are The Key to Success
On IoT projects, get to the Controls engineer — this is who has the keys to unlock the room or path to data that might already exist.
Who is your control engineer? This is the person that brings together disparate systems within your network.
A good control engineer knows how to design, develop, and implement the systems that will control your specified applications, networks and machines.
9. IoT is a Big Concept and Many Have Different Views
After introducing the concept of the Internet of Things to many different companies; it has become apparent there are many diverse views of IOT along with its purpose and benefit.
It’s important to remember that two people who seem to differ on the topic of IoT may simply be looking at opposite sides of the same spectrum.
IoT solutions offer limitless capabilities that can easily be tailored to your specific business needs.
This means what IoT can offer for your business, may be completely different than the purpose and benefit it can offer for another.
10. There Is Always a Way To Do Something with IOT
The Internet of Things can be applied to just about every business strategy that exists; it’s just a matter of working at it.
For example, IoT has been used for the complex systems of products like John Deer’s Farmsight to optimize the farm, to simple examples like the Babilat tennis racket that provides data about a player’s performance.
Device connectivity and data analytics enable a closed-loop, real-time digital thread that can connect your people, systems, and equipment across the entire supply chain.
With the rapid creation and developments of new IoT applications, any organization can connect, manage, and optimize complex sets of disparate systems.
See how IoT goes beyond connecting products and has expanded to enable manufacturing and service processes by reading these case studies from PTC.
When it comes to IoT, there is always a way to do something.
