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Digital transformation planning must be done by people, not technology
Throughout modern history, going through various industrial revolutions, we have strived to do everything better, cheaper and faster. In our quest for improvement, we ask many questions at the start of each journey: How can I integrate design, operation and upkeep? How can I make my solution more dependable? How can I make it more secure? Planning for digital alteration is the most common response at this stage of our technology development.
To get practical and sensible answers to digital
transformation planning, I scheduled a panel discussion last week with two
people who are experts in the field: Stan DeVries, Senior Director of Digital
Transformation Consulting at AVEVA, and John Fryer, Senior Director. for
Industry Solutions at Stratus Technologies. ... Here is a summary of our
conversation.
Definition of terms: what is digital revolution?
“Digital transformation is about changing the way governments
and people work for the better. It includes the transformation of work made
possible by digitization. It is a matter of shared vision and better teamwork,
resulting in more sustainable profits. "
My friend Rob Kambach, head of OEM sales at AVEVA, hates
when digital transformation is all about technology. Hence, he mentions wasted
money as a result of companies' misconceptions about digital transformation.
"How people see their future should shape technology," says Rob,
"not the other way around." This prompted me to ask a second
question:
What are the misconceptions about digital transformation?
“The number one misconception about digital transformation
is that you think you need more digital things. You have to do this, but that
alone will be a waste if it doesn't improve the business or improve
performance. "
Stan DeVries
“Analytics and digital transformation are interchangeable,
particularly when using AI or machine learning. I think these are two different
things. Digital transformation is the way to go, right. Things like machine
learning and artificial intellect are technologies. People are stuck in
technology, when in reality it is a process and a journey in which technology
is a tool that plays a role. "
John Fryer
Why start planning your digital transformation?
How will you improve the performance of your company if it
is already performing well? Companies cannot solve this problem and improve
their business simply by hiring more people, purchasing more plant equipment,
or building a new plant.
“It’s easier to say that you’ll become more flexible or
perform better, but you cannot just use advertising, training, or even
performance metrics on their own to achieve higher levels of performance. You
need a tool of some kind - something to help ensure that superior performance
is achieved. "
Stan DeVries
Your business is already doing well, but it should be doing
better - how?
“I think it is very important to be successful to have clear
leadership and someone who is truly responsible and can overcome some of the
existing cultural barriers or feuds. For companies that are already performing
well but need to perform better, the real question is: Do you understand what
you mean by high performance in this context or low performance, that is, you
can calibrate your business and understand how it works in order to could you
find out where you need to improve? "
John Fryer
One of the biggest tests I've ever faced was dealing with a
high performing organization to help them truly believe in what they could,
they knew they had to, but that they could do even better. We use this maturity
model to help them understand opportunity. Because, as you can imagine, if they
do not believe in possibility, you cannot even make them believe in reality
and, so to speak, involve them in the journey.
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