Are you that smart person in the organization with that great idea for a new product or service using the latest technology? That could be the start of a revolution! Starting your project and thereby taking the organization's digital business to the next level could eventually lead to a company-wide commitment to innovate with digital business on a large scale.
What is digital business?
Digital business is not simply the application of digital technology in business operations. That would amount to e-business or digital marketing. Gartner defines digital business as the creation of new business designs by blurring the digital and physical worlds. That may sound a bit abstract, but let me give two examples:
- Suppose a delivery of parts to a mechanic in the field is delayed due to traffic or a malfunction. The bus or container notices the delay and communicates this to field service application and the mechanic and provides recommendations on what the mechanic should best do; wait for the parts, go to another work order, etc.
- A truck, vehicle or machine equipped with telematics technology collects data to predict what type of service or maintenance needs to be performed. The recommendations are communicated to the ERP or service management system and the service planner to enable scheduling of work orders that prevent break-downs.
Why is a digital business transformation interesting?
Without a doubt, we can say that digital business provides value to organizations. The first driver to invest in digital business is higher sales. The above examples show how you can move your company forward and increase revenue through digital business. But there are more reasons why a ??digital business transformation is interesting. You can use it to differentiate your products and services from the competition. And you can stay ahead of the competition by being the first to notice breakthrough technologies and deploy them in business operations.
Is my organization ready for digital business?
That depends on several aspects. Gartner defines six areas that companies must master to move from e-business or digital marketing to digital business at scale. These include spreading a business/technology vision throughout the organization and combining Internet of Things, Operational Technology and IT.
If you want to know more: Gartner's five-stage development model shows the stages your company needs to go through to succeed in digital business. It also offers advice on what you can do to initiate the digital business transformation and more info on what your organization needs to master to move into digital business at scale.
Philip van Kemenade is a marketer at Dysel and has daily contact with end users of software.
