How to Control Your Digital Enterprise with Advance AI, RPA and the Cloud

Successful Digital Transformation (DX) will mean integrating several technologies. Having complete sight and control of these systems ensures you can create a thriving digital enterprise.

For businesses to become truly digital enterprises, the digital transformation that has taken place must deliver the expected goals. Today, companies embrace several technologies, including AI – particularly Machine Learning – hybrid cloud deployments and advanced RPA along with the concepts of the Digital Twin and hyper-automation.

Enterprises are also embracing the idea of the digital twin that creates a digital version of a physical process. In addition, edge computing is fast developing decentralising network infrastructures that complement cloud services and the approaching IoT revolution will touch all businesses. Controlling this vast array of technologies is a critical component of DX.

The enterprises that have adopted a sprint approach to their DX quickly realise that gaining tangible returns also means controlling their new array of technologies. It’s easy to implement many of the technologies that have recently entered the marketplace, but more challenging to have a clear overview of these systems and how they are performing.

I would argue that being able to quantify each element of the DX deployment and use analytics to measure the performance is more critical to your business's long-term profitability than the DX itself. So, what I'm really asking you is, has your digital enterprise also become a data enterprise?

All the technologies I have just mentioned generate masses of information. However, great digital enterprises that have begun their DX journey, have also realised that data for its own sake is useless. If your enterprise can connect its datasets together, value emerges and competitive edge is enhanced.

Don't think, however, that masses of actional insight will magically appear once you have implemented your DX and connected datasets together. Instead, more work needs to be done to assess the information available and look for potentially actionable data.

I get many calls from businesses we work with who are at this stage and want to start 'doing AI' as if this was an off-the-shelf technology they can buy and bolt onto their DX. Certainly, AI (more accurately Machine Learning) systems are much easier to deploy than they were, but they still require high levels of technical skills to set up to avoid bias – but that's a subject for the future.

Seeing is controlling

Many businesses I work with, especially in manufacturing, have been slowly improving their RPA systems. Here, the addition of Machine Learning tools can deliver massive efficiency improvements.

Removing any repetitive task from your workforce should be actively pursued, as this releases your staff to do more creative work. These tools also feedback into your control systems which can give accurate feedback that your strategic planning can be based upon.

I’m also often asked how far a business can push automation. I mentioned that hyper-automation had been a significant trend over recent years. Gartner describes hyper-automation as: “Orchestrated, end-to-end, intelligent, event-driven form of automation, delivered with an effective combination of automation tools with multiple Machine Learning applications and packaged software.”

Also, I tell the business leaders I work with that automation for its own sake will not deliver the benefits they are looking for. The key is to use automation, and all the other technologies I have mentioned, intelligently and as strategic tools that deliver efficient digital enterprises.?

Being able to control the many technologies your business may deploy as part of its DX deployment is critical. But don’t take your eye off the human component of these systems. AI, hosted services, IoT and even the expanding use of extended reality, as Facebook and the Metaverse are defining, must be connected to form a cohesive working environment your people can thrive within.

Being able to control the many technologies your business may deploy as part of its DX deployment is critical. But don’t take your eye off the human component of these systems. AI, hosted services, IoT and even the expanding use of extended reality, as Facebook and the Metaverse are defining, must be connected to form a cohesive working environment your people can thrive within.

Post-pandemic control

I’ve covered a range of technologies that your business may come into contact with as your digital enterprise takes shape. As every company is re-drawing their DX roadmaps, I urge you to ensure that each technology you deploy integrates with your systems and processes. You will then be able to control these technologies and extract the value they can bring to your company.

In their Tech Trends 2021 report, Deloitte concluded: "Strategists are turning to strategic technology platforms equipped with advanced analytics, automation, and AI. Organisations are using these tools to continually identify internal and external strategic forces, inform strategic decisions, and monitor outcomes.”

Digital maturity is something every business has to work hard to achieve. Embracing the multi-cloud, deploying AI safely, moving to hyper-automation without damaging business culture and creating digital twins of your processes requires an investment of resources. I spend a great deal of my time showing businesses how digital control tools are the key to successfully implementing these technologies and others just around the corner.

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