Incremental value is so yesterday, you have to create new value in an ecosystem
“Digital transformation is not an IT agenda, it is a boardroom agenda.”
Ramanan Ramakrishna, head of service, innovation and portfolio at Fujitsu EMEA, says digital transformation ranks high in what organisations want to achieve in the next few years.
“You should look at it and act on it as a continuous evolution,” says Ramakrishna.
“We are in the next industrial revolution,” he states in his keynote speech at the Fujitsu World Tour 2017 in Auckland.
This era, also called Industry 4.0, is about intelligently connected things.
This next revolution will be driven by a range of technologies like blockchain that will remove supply chain intermediaries, artificial intelligence or deep learning, human interaction interfaces such as virtual and augmented reality, along with sensors and devices.
The key to digital transformation is not doing it alone, he states. “It is co-creation.”
“This concept of co-creation, working with partners and competitors together, is one of the biggest shifts of this industrial revolution.”
Businesses need to be quick in driving change, he says.
“You have to be in a position where you are embracing the technology, rather than running away from it,” Ramakrishna states.
You should aim to look for significant benefits and creating new value, rather than incremental value, he adds.
“Incremental value is so yesterday, you have to create new value in an ecosystem.”
This concept of co-creation, working with partners and competitors together, is one of the biggest shifts of this industrial revolution
'Co-create with speed'
He provides a list of questions as to how organisations can prepare for Industry 4.0.
“Does your business really understand the extent of change needed to its behaviours to remain relevant in an ‘always on’ world?”
Continuous delivery is essential for you to co-create with speed. Building a culture and philosophy of enabling creativity is important, he states.
“Can you drive sustainable innovation alone?”
Digital transformation enables creativity and radical transformation of business models. Effective partnering brings great results in co-creating value for customers. The key to partnering for value is through APIs, the backbone of digital, Ramakrishna adds.
“How do you engage the ‘always on’ consumer?”
Human centric technology is at the heart of the digital world, he states. Reimagine your business interactions using data from various previously unusable sources, such as video, images and audio.
“Do you understand the impact this has on your digital business platform?”
The digital platform provides the building blocks for developers to accelerate competitive advantage, he states.
Embrace digital revolution, he advises. “You have the opportunity and the knowledge to do it right now.”
Ramakrishna says organisations can start taking the first steps as early as next week to kickstart digital transformation.
First, identify a quick win that will resonate with the business. “Look for a process involving manual effort and with emotional impact,” he says.
“Deliver this business process quickly to open up further opportunities.”
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