Today, digital transformation is affecting all businesses at a more rapid pace than ever before. Now is the time to embrace new technologies to help transform your business for the digital age, or risk becoming obsolete.

Blockbuster Video and Kodak are recent examples of companies which were destroyed by new business models which embraced Digital Transformation to supplant incumbent corporate giants.

Fact: Only 12% of the Forbes 500 in 1955 still exist in 2016.

How can you survive the rapidly changing business environment, and preserve your most profitable lines of business? Digitization is the current industry “marketecture *” for transforming your business from data enabled by devices connected the internet.

But achieving business value is more than just connecting devices to the internet. The value comes from bringing together information from sources that were never connected before to produce insights, experiences, and ultimately better decisions.

To extract unique, competitive value from digitization, one must take a holistic approach.

For me, I call this OPT-In.

• Organizational Skills
• Process – Business Processes
• Technology – The Information from Technology
• And Integrated together

Only when integrating the information digitization provides, applying it to a business process, then making sure the professionals running/managing that process have the skills/knowledge/insight to make decisions will you achieve true business value and competitive advantage.

Examples of immediate value can be seen from:

• Business processes re-imagined: greater automation
• Fast IT using cloud–rapid IT solution development and business connections
• On the go technologies first: mobility not mobile
• Actionable Business Analytics–what are you going to do with all that data?
• Merging IT and OT (Information Technologies, Operational Technologies)
• Cyber Security to protect intellectual capital, operational disruption, and product quality and safety

To create economic business opportunities between countries and for businesses themselves requires a unique, integrated insight and experience in achieving results. The OPT-In approach is a viable framework for initially evaluating potential opportunities for unique advantage and value.

——————

About the author: Robert Wm. Dean

Robert (Bob) Dean is a global senior executive with proven expertise in leading businesses and countries transform on a global basis. His business transformation success has been based on his holistic strategic approach of integrating business process assessment, organizational skill alignment, and the information technology provides. While business outcome focused, Mr. Dean has current expertise in digitization, the Internet of Things (IoT), Cloud Computing, and other leading enabling technologies.

Mr. Dean was the Vice President, IBM Global Services, Senior Partner at BearingPoint management consultancy where he was responsible for building and leading the Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management and IT Consulting Practices. This included working directly with global companies and governments across all manufacturing and retail industries worldwide.

He is an advisor, confidant, and consultant to senior executives and management teams in the manufacturing, technology and consulting industries worldwide. He also speaks publicly at professional events, industry forums, and universities on global business transformation, and the impact of technology on global business practices.

Mr. Dean is also engaged in EU/US economic business development with embassy and consulate relationships in several EU countries and the EU delegation in the US.

* Marchitecture (or Marketecture) is a made-up word by Martin Northend; it is a combination of the words marketing and architecture. (c)