Before starting to discuss the term “digital transformation” or digitalization i want to ensure a common baseline.

Basically the term digital transformation is used to describe the transfers of data, signals, processes and methods from a analog world into a digital version.

Example

There is a prominent example i want to use to allow us further close the playing field of my thoughts: Shopping lists. In the past you simply wrote them on the next random available paper. You putted that mostly small piece of paper somewhere and by chance you where able to find it when arriving at the shop next to you. At a certain point in time someone started to create a digital version of that list, most probably already on a mobile device.

I assume a simple reason like “I don’t want to miss that little piece of paper again” or “I don’t want to use my hand written letters cause I’m not able to read them after an hour” as initial driver for digital transformation in that example. And I’m very sure it worked perfectly and was an success story for the inventor.

What happens next (and I’m just speculating regarding the example i use) is where the magic of digital transformation takes place. With beginning of store the shopping list in a digital format a new horizon of use cases can take place:

  • Store the data on a central storage and you have a backup
  • Store the data on a central storage and you can edit them from multiple devices
  • Store the data on a central storage and allow others to add or remove
  • Create a relation between your list items and your location to filter items based on the shop you are currently in
  • Learn what you usually buy and suggest things you maybe miss when leaving the store without them
  • …

The moment the data are digitized and we understand that fact and begin to see and use connections to other data feel like magic.

The Shopping list example is a very simple one that helped myself to better understand the potential of the digital transformation. Actually more realistic topics in that area are everything around IoT or digital-twin.

What i have taken from that example specifically is that digitalization is not bring technology and start using it the way it is supposed to. It clearly starts from a analog question like how to help my staff reduce the amount of uncomfortable movements in my production line (Somewhat classical digital-twin scenario ;-) ).

Chance and reality

I think the digital transformation can really bring us into the next area right after the age of the internet. It has the potential to change everything again. We have the opportunity to not only get more and more efficient with what we do but as well relieve people and create new business models.

Since at least 5 years the industry is talking about the age of digital transformation. We do that cause we think it is worth to make use of the concepts and we know that our technology is ready to support us. Unfortunately we “over pitched” the term to somewhat more general for any technical innovation in the business sector. Any new product with potential use cases in the industry is called digitalization something. Personally I’m afraid that people stopped to listen simply cause we where already to aggressive, which is a mess because of the potential of the idea.

According to Forbes 84% of companies fail at digital transformation link. From my point of view mostly cause they create digitalization projects to create them. Just as a reflex cause everyone is talking about it and you don’t want to be the one with a killed business cause you missed that digital thing. (I’m really often feel the same when people talk about there blockchain programs, but that is a story for another article.) I think relevant decision makers do not understand the idea and concepts. We shouldn’t be surprised cause it’s again IT guys talking about their ideas to the business. Decision makers in the relevant areas (mostly not IT) are fore example head of production in a wooden furniture factory. IT companies knock on his door to put sensors on his machines and create 3D models of the assembly line. With the first “successful” pilot they tell him that there are easy savings in his processes and simply blame him at the final report meeting with the external consultants and his board of management. It could not be a surprise that those projects are not successful.

As the people who create the technology for such cases, we can not do anything better to make them a success. It’s not that the calculation was not fast enough or the data we used where not sufficient, for me it’s most of the time simple missing human interaction.

How to be successful

From a IT partner perspective it should be always our objective to become a trusted partner of the analog world expert. Digital transformation can not be done by us, but only in conjunction with the client and his expertise. Teams should be always staffed with IT experts and clients topic experts. Technology is not of any interest for the client. You should be the guy on the table that can make ideas happen with technology or even new ideas from your IT-Guys perspective. i can think of digital transformation projects without any specific technology involved but a mindset transformation towards more agile development processes.