The Journey of Digitalization
Industry 4.0 is the race for Organizations to jump on the big wagon to be able to compete and operate with the help of Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Cognitive responses, RPA, Predictive analytics, big data and many more.
Digitalisation has always been about people, process, tools, how does the intricate relationship between them able to evolve in this digital age. Out of the 3 elements, which do we focus on first? Is it the people that has designed the process or the process that has empowered the people with the skills to execute with the help of the tools?
Technologies are constantly evolving while I’m typing this, hence there isn’t a singular technology that can cater to all types of industry and business and each needs to be modelled and modified to suit its business needs that will transform their digital journey. A careful selection on the usage, purpose and its ability to evolve together with the company mission is crucial in the selection of the technology.
Strategically, the key component would be the leadership team vision to drive down the entire change philosophy together with the IT Division. The process of carving out the roadmap of change must be precise and agile to deal with the everchanging requirements of the evolving business landscape. Henceforth in mind of being agile in the business transformation, we can either take an approach based on a big bang theory or adopt a waterfall approach to help the organization and its employee make the transition easier.
Every successful journey begins with a single step that defines the entire roadmap to Digitalization, hence before engaging any technologies, we must first start with our Master Data. Define what can be Digitalized, measured, Actioned, Improved and Controlled upon. When the Master data is being viewed as a core engine on how to begin the transformation, the focus and requirements on automation would provide clarity on the next course of actions.
Do we invest in the technology to first Digitalize our Master Data or do we select a system that allows us to do the same concurrently and explore the processes as we move along. There's no right answer to this however what is clear will be that regardless of the course of actions, we will need the leadership team to take the lead in spearheading the transformation as this is a not just a business transformation change but also a behavioural change in the aspect of how the employees are able to complement and enhance the new tool in this ever changing technological era.