Digital

The pace of technology and innovation continues to accelerate exponentially and this progression will continue to rule 2019, but there is a synergy and a pattern that has slowly started to emerge as enterprise digital transformation takes the central stage. A robust digital transformation framework becomes a key to have a successful digital journey. We had covered briefly on the 7 steps to start your digital transformation roadmap on how traditional enterprises can no longer afford to wait on the sidelines as born digital players continue to threaten their economic moats. Enterprises must re-imagine themselves as platform play businesses to reap the full benefits of an accelerated digital strategy by being open, connected, scalable & intelligent.

An optimum digital transformation technology strategy might be the edge you were looking for to give your enterprise digital transformation initiatives a much needed boost this year. What is critical is to get the technology framework right, so that a long term flexible platform based business model is constructed.

So here are the 16 technology attributes that we believe will rule 2019’s CXO priorities:

1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)
   Well no surprises there. Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning have ruled much of 2018 and they would continue to dominate much of the digital priorities for the CXOs. These technologies have not only impacted software industry but also the other verticals such as banking, healthcare, legal, manufacturing, automobile and agriculture.
2. Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
   Over the past year, there has been intensifying interest in Robotic Process Automation. It is already delivering value, early movers in shared services and other administrative organizations are achieving significant benefits by adopting RPA approach to improve the bottom-line.
3. Internet of Things (IoT)
   The Internet of Things (IoT), once a niche technology for startups, is now a technology on which billion-dollar enterprises are building their futures on. Gartner predicts the number of connected things in use will hit 14.2 billion in 2019, and grow to 25 billion by 2021. From managing to smart cities to transforming entire industries IoT, has become main stream and enterprises will lose out a lot if they do not have a relevant IoT strategy in place.
4. API based integration
   Traditional companies are realizing quickly that without integration there can be no digital transformation. With the advent of machine learning, hybrid platforms and robotic process automation (RPA), integration in itself will rapidly evolve. APIs and B2B integration will converge to drive the next generation of B2B interactions to create platform business models.
5. Cloud Enabled
   Cloud computing has become the go to platform for fueling digital transformations and modernizing IT portfolios. Multi-cloud strategies targeted at driving innovation, complemented by containers and server less computing, will lead the cloud computing trends for 2019.
6. Blockchain
   Blockchain has been the buzzword for recent few years, while digital transformation providers and enterprises are still trying to explore the extent of the full benefits that this technology will deliver. But not to deny that Blockchain will play a very important role in enterprise security and to improve use cases for AI and IoT.
7. Scalability
   As enterprises will become platform businesses, it needs to be capable of sudden influx of huge demands. Which means the networks & the systems are flexible enough to keep up with the demand fluxes. By complementing with the cloud first strategy, enterprises needs to become demand ready without compromising on cost savings.
8. Multi device/Multi Channel capability
   Recent studies revealed that the proportion of people who own a smartphone, a PC and a laptop is way higher than people who own just a smartphone. Enterprises needs to be cognizant of that fact irrespective of B2B or B2C business - an Omni-channel strategy has to be in place for a fulfilling customer experience.
9. Multi- Tenancy
   The analysts forecast the global multi-tenant data center consumption to grow at a CAGR of 11.36% during the period 2018-2021. Multi-tenancy continues to be the backbone for Cloud Computing for IaaS and PaaS. Multitenancy makes it possible for each user to have his or her own instance of a shared application which will complement the scalability strategy of the enterprise.
10. Micro-services architecture
    Micro-services remained a popular technology choice among the CIOs in 2018. According to a research by Couch base, as many as 50% of the respondents said that they are using micro services for application development and 38.7% are planning to use it. Scalability and faster deployment were the leading factors owing to the fast adoption of the micro service architecture.
11. Data Analytics
    Data Analytics is a lifeline for the IT industry right now. Technologies and techniques like Big data, Data science and Deep learning, which are used in analyzing vast volumes of data are expanding rapidly. For gaining deep insights of customer behavior and system performance data analytics will continue to rule the chartbusters of 2019.
12. Security & Compliance
    Security, once merely a small part of enterprise IT is now a significant and crucial function for organizational success. With rising demand of data protection and cyber threats, Security & Compliance have become a board room agenda. Enterprises on their digital transformation journey must keep this as one of the key priorities for 2019.
13. Intelligent customer experience
    In a research done by Hotjar in 2018, only 12% of the respondents regarded their companies as being mature when it came to customer experience. Customer experience will dictate who will win the digital battle. A new breed of CX leaders will emerge that will use AI and Bots to their advantages while delivering superior customer experience.
14. Self-Learning (Platform machine learning)
    Intelligent customer experience engine will be run by self- learning at the core as the user experiences will be enhanced by personalized choices and interactions. Today, self-learning is increasingly being deployed in credit card fraud detection, personalized advertising though pattern identification, personalized shopping/entertainment recommendations, to determine cab arrival times, pick-up locations and finding routes on maps etc. Over the period of time, this implicit decision making ability will drive business revenues.
15. Telemetry & Self-Healing
    One of the major ways that DevOps can take to the next level is through self-healing. It enables systems or environments to detect and resolve problems automatically, eliminating the need for manual intervention. The DevOps teams ill take advantage of this to help achieve continuous delivery.
16. Data Strategy
    A sound data strategy will be on the priority list for many CXOs as enterprises continues to churn out volumes and volumes of data. Whichever enterprises has good handle on their data, knows how to leverage it as a strategic differentiator. Regulatory pressures such as GDPR have done their part to increase Data Strategy awareness, but more and more companies realize that data can be a strategic business driver and managing it effectively is a good business simply.

An immediate priority for the CXO decision makers now would be to strategize and prioritize which of these 16 technology attributes make more sense for their enterprise’s digital transformation roadmap. But first and foremost, the enterprise needs to assess of where they are in their current digital journey. A simple assessment report on digital readiness like Sonata’s Digital Maturity Assessment can help identify the gaps and complement the existing digital programs to create a robust digital framework.

Hope this article helps you find the right digital strides for 2019

Every organization is now undergoing through some form of Digital change. Companies are placing their future bets on how quickly they can adopt digital to their core to accelerate their growth. Individuals are also constantly challenged to keep up with the new technologies that enterprises are looking to implement. This is a great shift to how enterprises used to operate just a few years back when digital was just a buzz word. We have seen traditional businesses build multi-billion dollar businesses over a very long period of time. The new age digital players are now able to build equally valued companies at much rapid scale and disrupting several traditional industries. To keep up enterprises need to invest in the right talent strategy to augment their digital vision.

Sonata’s CEO Mr. Srikar Reddy recent spoke about the same in an article by the World Economic Forum on “3 key talents for a successful digital transformation ”. He believed that the talent requirement can be classified into three essential categories – Leadership, Technical and Behavioral

Leadership

An organization’s digital agenda is set by the leadership. The leadership needs to willingly take new risks and evaluate new opportunities. Clarity is one of the key tenets of leadership behavior that leads to sharp strategies and plans. With the sense of perseverance and agility, the leadership can brace itself for fast changing situations and plan for the road ahead.

Technical

The very heart of digital transformation change is the technology that is associated with it and that technology is constantly evolving. The talent thus becomes a multidisciplinary requirement that has a grasp of the latest digital technologies and how best it can be applied for the enterprises. The secret of success behind born digital players is their ability to execute platform business model that can rapidly scale their enterprises. They have created an ecosystem approach to business that engages a wider network to create value. The platform thinking mindset redefines the traditional pipe based model of business thus creating nonlinear and accelerated value creation. This approach has led to the requirement of a new breed of architects that can create a connected ecosystem of customers, business, vendors, and partners. Enterprises also need to invest in training on the latest technology that will define digital for the coming years. For example, AI, ML, Blockchain, AR, VR all are new age technologies that will rule the sea of digital change.

Behavioral

To be able to handle digital disruption and change, behavioral patterns will play a pivotal role in how to address the modern age digital problems. Inclusive design thinking – an approach born out of the digital environment plays a key role in identifying customer empathy and design solutions to solve customer problems. Talent training will need to include certain traits like growth mindset, empathy, curiosity to enable individuals to surpass their limitation and expand their ability to tackle new kind of problems and create solutions.

In order to succeed in the digital transformation approach, it is clear that the old models of doing things are becoming obsolete. This requires a whole new generation of multidiscipline talent that ranges right from the top – a visionary leader who can steer the enterprise roadmap for digital to the technical skillsets to harness the power of digital technology in an optimal way. Enterprises should now invest and focus on hiring and training talent with these skillsets to foster organization digital change.

Read more on our Digital Transformation solution and check out other blog pieces in this space.

In this digital age, enterprises must change the way they interact with their customers, partners, and suppliers. Enterprises also must reimagine their existing business model to reap the benefit of digital. Customer expectation is changing rapidly due to the availability of a vast amount of information and dynamic demands. There is a value gap that is being created with what the customers want and what the enterprises are able to fulfill. Enterprises must work hard to close this value gap or its stands at risk for the entire business.

The born-digital players are already disrupting much of traditional business and they are very likely to reimagine some more and thereby putting the traditional enterprises on the defensive. These enterprises must start to think like them in order to stay relevant or competitive. If you look at the reason behind the underlying success of these born-digital players, it is their ability to imagine their business as a platform business model. A platform business model is a radical shift from the traditional pipe business model where the operation was linear. Here the platform business engages the larger ecosystem of the customer, partners and suppliers and able to leverage the underlying value of data by means of digital technologies.

The traditional enterprises must start to think like technology companies. Part of that has to be the imagination of the business by itself. It needs some critical questions to be answered such as –

1. Given the huge amount of experience, the enterprise had if it had to start all over what changes and improvements in the process must be done?

2. How can value be created with help of the ecosystem by involving customers, suppliers, and partners?

3. What are the current technology gaps that need to be addressed to accelerate the digital processes?

Enterprises must be able to distinguish between digital strategy and digital transformation. The two terms are often used interchangeably but it does carry a different meaning when comes to shaping your digital enterprise. A digital strategy per se could be a silo approach of using digital technologies in one particular group of business such a supply chain operation or sales management or e-commerce for that matter where the enterprises are just looking to add one more channel for their customer acquisition. This approach is limited in the sense that it only addresses a part of the bigger problem.

Digital transformation, on the other hand, demands an overhaul of the business and building new and better ways of doing businesses. This requires a much more concrete effort right from top management commitment to execution to the lowest of the organization pyramid. This approach leverages digital technologies, tools, processes, and people to reorganize the business. This collaborative effort is a multiyear approach and if enterprises are serious about staying competitive, they must invest this time and energy to fix their business navigation. The old ways are coming to an end and it giving way for the new ways of doing business. It has always been so, right from the first industrial revolution of organized manufacturing to steam, we are in the age of the fourth industrial revolution now where digital will lead the way of change.

At Sonata, we help customers reimagine their business with the help of Platformation™ which is Sonata’s unique approach to digital with the help of platforms. We help enterprises to think like a born-digital company with help of Sonata’s proprietary 16 point technology framework, digital maturity study and digital consulting. This helps enterprises to become what we call it as Open, Connected, Scalable and Intelligent. It embodies the platform development intricacy with its proven framework that helps enterprise accelerate the digital agenda.

It is quite evident that digital is here to stay and if your enterprise needs to stay competitive and have an edge over the competition, they must start to think like platform companies otherwise they stand the risk of losing the very business