When implemented correctly, when changes are introduced from the top, from top, and supported by ordinary employees, digital transformation takes 2.5—3 years. In large companies this period may extend to 4—5 years.
Even the first results will be visible only after 9—12 months, but most managers lay 6—9 months for the entire transformation. For this period, you will have time to implement only 1—2 projects on digitalization or automation.
– Non-streamlined processes
This is one of the key elements of digital transformation. You can go the classic way – first automate what you have, and then reengineer processes. However, automation without prior optimization is not feasible. You will spend a lot of time and resources, but in the end, you will create a very heavy and clumsy system. Optimization is the most important step in the transition from manual labor to automated labor.
– Unstructured data
If you can’t structure data, transform it into useful information, then everything else is meaningless.
– Staff competencies
Digital technologies place a new level of demands on the knowledge and competencies of both the people adopting these technologies and the users. Large-scale measures are needed to educate and retrain, motivate and overcome resistance to innovation.
At the same time, research of one of the federal projects showed that in Russia only 26% of people have advanced digital skills. According to DICE, in Europe, this figure reaches 57%.
– Costs and people overburdened
Digital transformation is a high-cost initiative without guarantees of success.
According to research, only 20% of the changes are implemented successfully. Others fail for various reasons, including because of its redundancy. If there are 250 changes per person per year, you can hardly expect a positive result.
– Technology Disappointment
Gartner’s Gartner Hype Curve, a consulting agency, issues a report every August. This is a graph of public expectations about a particular technology. According to the agency, in the ideal case, the technology successively passes five stages: the launch of the technology, the peak of elevated expectations, the bottom of frustration, the slope of education, the plateau of productivity. However, it also happens that technology doesn’t make it past stage three – the bottom of disappointment.
Of course, it should be remembered that the Gartner chart is just a forecast, there are exceptions to it, but it still helps to assess the risks of early use of new technologies.
In summary, the most common causes of failure are:
– the unpreparedness of the IT systems used;
– data quality and availability;
– poor quality work with change management;
– Poor quality project management.
We will discuss this issue in a separate chapter.
Chapter summary
– The introduction of digital technologies is one of the tasks of digitalization. The global challenge is digital transformation, with a redefinition of processes, goals, models and strategies.
– Digital transformation is only a tool. More important is the overall quality of management, team. You cannot focus only on numbers.
You need highly qualified employees. Additionally, this means that policy management and aggressive management will no longer be applicable. Such employees are highly mobile, with mismanagement you will have to constantly recruit new personnel, teach them, and then lose them, and so on.
– In the Gartner diagram, many digital technologies are near the peak of high expectations. Disappointment will follow, and only after we learn how to use all these tools will there be value.
– There are no employees on the market with full set of necessary competencies. Team members are likely to have one or two strong competencies to use.
– Basic digital literacy increases the likelihood of digital transformation succeeding.
When implementing digital projects, a large number of users are affected, and the level of their basic IT training can vary. The accumulated statistics showed that «tightening» of basic PC skills significantly increases the probability of successful implementation of digital solutions in general.
– Basic for all competences are the ability to solve poorly structured problems, system and critical thinking, digital skills.
– The introduction of technologies and transformation can be carried out independently: allocate resources and people, work according to a matrix.
Your chances of success are 20 to 30%, at least 10% of your employees will be gone, you will have to bear a huge cost and the implementation period will be 2.5—3 years.
I recommend finding a company that specializes in digital transformation and will communicate with people while remaining independent of domestic policy. It will digitize the project, prepare proposals for optimization and necessary changes in culture, processes, necessary training programs for employees and will implement everything gradually. Then you won’t have to get rid of the time team on this project.
– To understand whether you need digitalization and digital transformation, ask yourself a few questions:
– how competitive is your industry?
– is it possible to replace your product or service with a digital one?
– do you have market preferences that are not available to other members?
– what is the threshold of entry?
Answers to them will already give an idea of how far you need to move forward. Additionally, the main criterion – it is necessary to deal with digitization if your revenue depends on a few key customers.
Chapter 2. Technology. Pros, Cons, Personal Opinions
I’m sure many of you at first thought this was going to be a major section. However, since this book is not for techs, I’m going to try to make it simple. After all, our task is to see the essence and begin to navigate the digital technologies, to understand how to use them for business.
Well, for those who think this topic is the main one, I suggest clicking on the QR code or the link below. There you will find a large number of visualizations, links and videos.
An overview of digital technologies. Part 1 (https://www.chelidze.group/en/post/review-of-digital-technologies-part-1)
Internet of Things (IoT, IIoT)
The Internet of Things (IoT – Internet of Things, IIoT – Industry Internet of Things – industrial Internet of Things) is a network of interconnected Internet devices. These are so-called «smart devices», although this name is not quite correct.
What is it for?
First, to collect and share data that can be analysed and based on such analysis, to make decisions. And secondly, to remotely control connected objects or devices.
According to Strategy Analytics, in 2018 there were 23 billion devices connected to the Internet of things worldwide. And by 2025, about 80 billion IoT devices are expected.
The IoT development was made possible by the reduction of the cost of the Internet (it has decreased several times in 10 years), as well as the reduction of computing power and sensors.
At the same time, it must be understood that the Internet of things is not so much a conditionally «smart» kettle, socket and so on, as a big data generator (which we will talk about a little later), something that analysts and data will work with later Scientists to form new proposals and generate ideas.
