Reaching the Summit 2021

The automotive industry is undergoing a massive transformation. Much of the way business was conducted in the past will no longer be enough to stay ahead of the curve. We need to think more like a technology company and less like a traditional automotive manufacturer. Speed and customer focus are more important than ever. We also need to decouple the hardware and software lifecycles of our products, to enable continuous "over-the-air" software updates. And most importantly, the use of vast amounts of data from our vehicles is crucial.

With all this in mind, IT plays a critical role in enabling the necessary transformation to stay successful in the future. If one were to take all that we do in IT and picture those efforts as a mountain, the summit would be would be Building Software and Platforms for Efficiency and Revenue. This is where our focus must be in order to enable the transformation ahead of us. Much like climbing a mountain, all our decisions and actions should contribute to reaching this ultimate goal. 

What we need to get there

Having the right equipment makes achieving our goals easier. This doesn’t just mean having the right tools to get the job done, it also means having the right mindset. The mindset at the heart of our IT strategy is being #TwiceAsFast – and to help take Daimler to the next level, we are spreading this mindset throughout the entire width and breadth of the company.

Initiatives like our Digital Readiness Program, aiming to level-up the technical knowledge within the company, a marketplace for APIs based on needs and offers, allowing for increased implementation and effectiveness of our APIs, and a significant increase of our Free and Open-Source Software footprint, making Daimler a more active user and contributor to the community, show that we have the right tools to reach the summit.

How we get there

We have a clear target picture where we want to go, but how do we get there? In addition to having the right equipment, each step of the way forward is carefully considered and implemented. This is where our Target Operating Model comes into the picture.

Much like having a Base Camp, our resource flexibility and product orientation provides us with the support needed to reach the summit. In this way, we are able to deploy experts from a flexible resource pool, empowered with a harmonized software stack, to build great products. This allows us to operate more freely and efficiently, while at the same time fostering our thriving developer community.

Furthermore, through the modernizing and scaling of our infrastructure, as well as a secure, Zero Trust foundation from our OnePlatform initiatives, we have a strong foundation for the exciting work ahead.

All paths lead to the summit

Our focus is clear. For over 130 years we have built great vehicles with the latest and greatest technology. As mentioned before, moving forward, we must not think simply as an automotive manufacturer, rather more like a technology company. This, combined with working on exciting and big (digital) challenges like the ones mentions above, makes being a Daimler IT specialist so attractive. We are concentrating our efforts on the transformation ahead of us – and our important role in enabling that transformation together with our people in IT.