Has the advanced technology become commodity
Read Digital (R)evolution – Chapter 9-10,12
Review the relevant materials.
Answer the following questions:
Has the advanced technology become commodity?
Are the robots taking the world over?
What is your definition of the digital innovation?
What does “User Experience” mean to humans and robots (Ch12)?
Use the APA style.
Requirements: 800 words
Chapter 9Digital Proficiency and InnovationExecutive Summary: Even though advanced technology has become acommodity, organizations still need to develop the mindset required forusing technology wisely and effectively. I call this mindset “digitalproficiency,” and from my perspective it’s more essential to success thantechnical proficiency.The Apollo 11 spacecraft that took men to the Moon in 1969 relied on aguidance computer that could handle eight jobs at a time. Today, aniPhone can theoretically process 6 billion transactions per second.We’ve come a long way since the days of the Apollo program. Thanks tothe spirit of human invention and Moore’s Law, amazing technologieshave become commoditized and commonplace. In our modern techno-savvy culture, virtually every organization can craft a practical businesssolution with technologies that are readily available at a reasonable cost.In other words, technical proficiency has become a given. What is not agiven, however, is digital proficiency. For most organizations, thewidespread lack of digital proficiency remains a barrier to transformation.Why is this so? The answer is maddeningly simple: to achieve their goalsand objectives, organizations typically rely on the skills and knowledge oftheir employees. That makes sense, doesn’t it? After all, that’s the reasonyou hire people, so you can leverage their skills and knowledge.
But here’s the rub: the typical employee relies on skills and knowledge thathe or she learned years ago in school. That’s the problem! Unlike riding abike or driving a car, digital skills require continual upgrading. The needfor continual learning and development is not some trivial matter. Ignoringthe “skill state” of your workforce can prove disastrous.Today, acquiring new digital skills almost always entails more than merelylearning how to use a new piece of software or supervise new businessprocesses. Many of the newer solutions require users to adopt a newmindset and a new approach to work. Many newer solutions aren’t merelynew—they are disruptively new, requiring users to become familiar with anewer dictionary and new terminologies.Again, these aren’t trivial problems. And they are compounded by vastdifferences in levels of preparedness and experience across the modernworkforce. In today’s workplace, one size definitely does not fit all. “Forthe first time in our history we have four generations working side byside,” says Mitra Best, lead principal of strategic innovation andtechnology at PwC.Please take a moment to consider her observation. The idea of amultigenerational workforce isn’t new, but I cannot remember a time whenfour generations of employees worked together. The impact of themultigenerational workplace is powerful and undeniable.Yet most organizations are constantly operating in beta mode when itcomes to training. A handful of large corporations take learning anddevelopment seriously, but midsize companies are still way behind thecurve. Small companies and startups often focus on hiring people withgreat technical skills, but fail to hire digitally proficient talent in critical
areas such as sales, marketing, finance, and human resources.What’s the net effect? There are gross imbalances in levels of proficiency,not just across companies, but across departments and teams as well.These imbalances can have dire consequences for transformationalstrategies in modern organizations.How often have you heard technologists use the phrase “Build it and theywill come,” but invariably the platform investments fall short, or worsestill, completely miss the desired objective. Even though technologistsform an integral part of a transformation, the keen sense to researchsolutions without adequate definition of the business challenge is a veryslippery slope. While it is imperative to identify the business-orientedcomponents of any transformation prior to identifying supportingtechnologies, most programs repeatedly fall into the same trap of notdoing so with rigor. If you look at the SMART transformation approachshown in Figure 9.1, I’ve drawn up a simple method on how to approachthis challenge by drawing on commonly used business practices to aid thejourney.The acronym identifies the five steps that one can follow whileinterchanging the underpinning steps to suit the challenge. Consider it aprequel or a step in the journey leading to the actual transformation.Survey. The first step in the journey is defined to indicateinclusion of the various stakeholders. In most transformationalcases there is already a method to achieve the business goals, sobefore disrupting established methods it is crucial to understandwhat is in place and if it does indeed need to be changed.Map. A simple process within an organization may have multiple
stakeholders from commercial teams to supply chain personnel indifferent geographies. I find that visually mapping this processbrings about the reality of how complex things really are under thehood. This can be one of the most time-consuming processes inthe journey as you identify caveats and workarounds.Figure 9.1 The SMART business and digital transformation method.Align. The mapping procedure will act as the basis for alignmentwith the multiple stakeholders; there is a high potential that thiscycle of mapping and alignment will repeat itself a few timesdepending on the complexity of the challenge.Research. While technologists would have been at the tablethroughout this process, this is the point in time when thedefinition of a solution, if technological, is sought out through
research or pulled from incubators, startups, etc. This is thedeciding point as to whether the digital enablement will disruptand truly transform the process or deliver a mediocre outcome.This is also the point where the change management would kick infor how a new process might impact the workforce, the P&L,departmental efficiency, a product’s time to market, a change inthe quality of service, etc.Transform. Once this is fully established, the transformationjourney truly begins. The change management and communicationis formulated based on the culture of the organization.No method will give you a straight-line answer to any business problem; itmust be adapted for each situation. I’ve outlined one of these very realsituations after the adoption of the SMART process.Here Come the RobotsRobotics offers a good example of the disparities in knowledge that aretypical in the modern workplace. Robotics is a multidisciplinary field andthere is no standard “robot.” Robotics includes physical robots, AIchatbots, autonomous driving systems, and RPA, which is the abbreviationfor robotic process automation. Despite the variety and diversity ofrobotics itself, the idea of robots inspires two unpleasant thoughts in theminds of many people:1. They are taking over the world.2. They are eliminating my job.
Most people don’t have a clue about what robotics can and cannot do. Whyis that a problem? It’s a problem because the chances are very good thatyour next digital transformation project will involve some degree ofrobotic process automation. Simply hearing the word “robotic” will sowseeds of fear and panic among your workforce, making your role as agentof transformational change even more difficult.From my perspective, the ability to talk about newer technologies such asrobotics is a critical aspect of digital proficiency. In other words, digitalproficiency isn’t just about knowledge and skill—it’s also about explainingwhy and how things work in the modern workplace.The CEO of a digital marketing agency recently shared his frustration overthe inability of a key team to explain the value proposition of a newtechnology platform they had developed for an important client.I found the conversation fascinating. At no point did the CEO mention anyproblems with the technology involved in the project. The technology wasgreat, he said. His sole issue was the team’s inability to articulate thetechnology’s value proposition to the client.A Long and Winding RoadBusiness requirements and organizational needs drive digitaltransformation. And since every business and every organization isdifferent, the term digital transformation has no strict definition. It variesby industry and by company. But there are common threads that can bewoven into a coherent story. Recognizing these threads and weaving themtogether is part of digital proficiency.
A transformation leader recently told me a story that underscores thispoint. The leader’s company was experiencing persistent problems with itscustomer invoicing processes. There were constant delays, inaccuracies,and complaints from irate customers. Eventually, the problems were tracedto deeper issues in a back-office function. Additional training didn’t help,and there were no pragmatic solutions for reorganizing the back office.A deep analysis of the data indicated that about 70% of the back-officework was mostly computational and about 30% was complex enough torequire human cognition to process. This seemed like a naturalopportunity for deploying a simple robotic processing automationsolution.But the decision to use RPA was only the beginning of a longer journey.The leader identified seven distinct stages in the journey and outlinedthem for me:Stage 1: Outright Rejection. The back-office unit initiallyrejected the idea of automation. Employees in the unit pushedback hard, saying that automation was a far-flung idea, not readyfor primetime, untested, too technical, and would never pass anaudit. They complained that it would cost too much, would clashwith existing scripts and automation, and would not work on olderversions of their existing software platform.Stage 2: Fearful Acceptance. Although the analysis indicatedthat 70% of the work was computational, the employees thoughtthe figure was inaccurate. They also feared for their jobs. Theleader responded by assuring them that they would be retrainedand reallocated to another department if their jobs were eliminated
by automation. Gradually, however, they accepted the idea thatautomation was coming.Stage 3: Alignment of Processes. While the back-office unit hadwell-established processes which should have made thetransformation easier, the employees had made minornonconforming changes over time. As a result, the entire processhad to be re-mapped and realigned before it could be programmedinto bots.Stage 4: Buy-In. The leader had expected that she would get buy-in from the company’s technology group. But her expectationsdidn’t match up with reality. The technology group wasn’t alignedwith the business strategy and had its own plans for automatingprocesses across the company; the back-office RPA project wasnot on its roadmap. It took months of negotiating with thetechnology group to reach an accommodation that addressed theback-office issues without undermining the company’s long-rangestrategies.Stage 5: Audit Engagement. Before the test launch, thecompany’s internal audit team had to review the namingconvention used by the unit to designate the RPA bots. Thisseemed like a simple step until a team of external auditors deemedthe process a “material change” of the organization’s end-to-endworkflow. It took weeks to assure the auditors that humans werestill in the loop and overseeing the bots to guarantee the accuracyof their work.Stage 6: HR Concerns. After clearing many hurdles, anotherbarrier remained: corporate governance required adding the botsto the company’s HR database. This might seem humorous, but the
HR team was flummoxed since it had never handled a request likethis before. Again, weeks were lost as new processes werenegotiated and approved. Additionally, since the HR databaserequired human names, exceptions were necessary to include thebots, which were identified by numbers rather than names.Stage 7: Determining Employment Status of Bots. Again, itmight seem strange to discuss the employment status of a bot, butthe company’s procurement organization raised the question,leading to a long and difficult conversation about the nature ofrobotic assistants and other forms of automata. Eventually, alicensing system was devised to get around the thorny issue ofwhether bots should be treated as workers or as machines.This story represents only the tip of a much larger iceberg. While theleader felt as though she was in a unique situation, the truth is thatscenarios like this will become increasingly common as companiesintegrate automation into their normal workflows. The questions andissues raised during the transformation process were far from trivial.Echoing the words of the auditors, the changes were “material,” and theyneeded to be treated with the utmost gravity.It’s a cop-out to label every business transformation as a digitaltransformation. The real transformation must occur within the hearts andminds of the people involved.Innovation and the Agility ParadoxA lack of digital proficiency in an organization will lead to a drop-off in
nontraditional problem solving. The most successful consultingorganizations require a minimum digital proficiency training that is notjust a “talking point” but is formally measured and managed.Organizations that streamline these approaches to proficiency tend to leadthe pack in forward-thinking and innovation.NET TAKEAWAYS1. Technical proficiency is not the same as digital proficiency.2. Make no assumptions as to the level of understanding ofdepartments involved in a digital transformation undertaking.3. Infrastructure is in an advanced and commoditized state andshould be a peripheral consideration.4. Digital transformation involves more than installing newtechnologies; there are social and moral issues to consider aswell.5. Digital proficiency leads to more innovative problem solving.6. The pace of change tomorrow will be faster than it is today.
Chapter 10Are You “Digitally Determined” or“Digitally Distraught”?Executive Summary: Digital transformation requires more than grit,tenacity, and optimism. You need a single strategy to guide the multiplecomponents of transformation in a holistic and coherent manner across theenterprise. A transformational strategy must be your North Star across theenterprise; transformations that are limited to lines of business orfunctional areas of the organization are unlikely to deliver the desiredresults.A recent memorial honoring the armed forces on the 75th anniversary ofD-Day brought to mind the tremendous ingenuity of the Allied forces.Their creativity, imagination, and willingness to innovate changed thecourse of World War II. They were truly brilliant and fearless in theirapproach. Many paid the ultimate price, yet they will be long rememberedfor their struggle to liberate a continent and restore freedom to millions ofpeople.I visited the WWII museum in New Orleans not too long ago, andreflected on the terrible paradox of war, which brings out the worst and thebest in humanity. Focusing on the best of outcomes, the war motivatedpeople to innovate in thousands of ways, both big and small. From theirefforts sprang better antibiotics, advanced forms of surgery, pressurizedaircraft cabins, microwave ovens, and practical electronic computers.
Their innovation launched an economic revolution that changed the world.Seventy-five years later we are seeing a similar drive to innovation. It isimportant to note that digital innovation is not new. The early stages of thedigital revolution are sometimes referred to as the “Third IndustrialRevolution” and the current phase, which includes the rise of practicalartificial intelligence, is sometimes called the “Fourth IndustrialRevolution.” Whatever you call it, the names are less significant than theeffect.I prefer to think of the current digital revolution as a kind of renaissancebecause the technological maturity we’ve achieved has now greatlyaccelerated the speed at which industries are able to innovate.This renaissance is driving massive change in every imaginable corner ofthe global economy. Every traditional industry is experiencing some formof disruption caused by the application of newer technologies.Disruption has always been at the heart of progress, but the pace of changetoday is creating a special problem that I call the “agility paradox.” Here isthe paradox in brief: new companies have little or no legacy system tomanage, so they can respond much more rapidly to changes in thesurrounding environment than incumbents, who are burdened by theirlegacy systems.Newer organizations allow digital technologies to permeate and influenceevery aspect of their working ethos while traditional organizations tend tomaintain the institutional culture that brought them to prominence.For example, I’ve heard top executives at many traditional organizationspay lip service to concepts such as design thinking, even when it’s clear
they have no idea what design thinking is or how it works.Yet when I speak with startup founders and their teams, it’s clear that theyunderstand the critical importance of design thinking and have woven itsbasic principles into the fabric of their organizational culture.Design thinking has become such an integral part of their lives that theyjust do it subconsciously. It’s second nature to them, which explains whythey can stay in sync with their customers and users. Design thinking goesa long way toward explaining why startups always seem nimbler thanincumbents.Traditional organizations excel at running the major operationalcomponents of their businesses. In fact, that’s their core competency.Operational expediency is crucial to long-term success; that is inarguable.Why Digital Transformation SeemsConfusingAsk a group of ten business leaders to define digital transformation andyou will get 12 different answers—and none will be wrong. Here’s why:digital transformation is a wraparound term used to signify a process thatdefies easy description. It’s an intentionally amorphous term whosemeaning shifts and changes depending on the context in which it isapplied.Although the term itself is abstract and general, each and every instance ofdigital transformation is concrete and specific. Talking or writing aboutdigital transformation does not equal doing digital transformation. It’s like
buying a home or starting a family. It’s one thing to plan a life-changingevent; it’s quite another thing to actually do it.The overarching purpose of this book is to remove some of the confusionsurrounding digital transformation. My goal is demystifying and clarifyinga process that is inherently dense and complicated. (See Figure 10.1.)Fixating on operational efficiency alone creates a legion of unseen costsand burdens that can adversely impact profitability. It’s essential toremember that operational efficiency isn’t free. Achieving efficiency isexpensive, a fact which is often overlooked or forgotten.Figure 10.1 Perception and Truth matrix.
Agile organizations as a general rule tend to buy services from specializedservice providers and focus on their core business. This also allows forpredictable costs based on growth. Scaling up or down is contractuallymanaged rather than becoming an administrative overhead. BPO andSoftware as a Service (SaaS) are varying examples of this.Agent of ChangeEver wonder why the term digital transformation has so many definitionsand why each definition is slightly different? The cause of confusion issimple: digital transformation means different things to differentbusinesses.I spoke at length with Carla Hendra, chief executive of Ogilvy Consulting,and chief digital officer of The Ogilvy Group, to gain a deeperunderstanding of the many nuances of digital transformation by exploringher point of view as a real-life practitioner.The opening gambit of our conversation was a general discussion of thetopic. She quite simply stated that all companies believe in digitaltransformation and want to achieve it, but less than 10% of them canarticulate what it means for their organizations and what it entails. Thenshe proceeded to share the best description I’ve heard yet.“We define digital transformation simply as establishing new pathways togrowth that take advantage of all the new possibilities in technology. Andeven as technology changes every day and impacts a variety of industriesin the B2B or B2C, in all cases the customer journey must map to a newand better customer experience.”
Using this simple definition of growth-focused digital transformationmeans leveraging mature technology in the service of a business. Thatmeans digital transformation can serve a wide variety of desirableoutcomes, such as expanding a portfolio of competitive products, openingnew markets, creating a better planet, or simply improving financialmargins.Merely formulating a digital transformation strategy isn’t enough. You alsoneed to communicate the strategy and translate it into a set of actionableplans and measurable outcomes. From her own experiences, Hendra saysthat successful strategies include long-term technology transformation,digital transformation, and customer experience transformation. Greatorganizations, she says, focus on creating customer loyalty and trust.Three Fundamental ObjectivesIn today’s digitally connected world, most organizations strive for threefundamental objectives:1. Better conversations2. Faster transactions3. Precise informationCompetitive businesses also strive intensely to keep pace with the risingtechnology curve. The most successful organizations (e.g. Apple, Amazon,Google, Facebook, and Netflix) anticipate the rise of new technologies andleverage them to create innovative products and services that enable themto leap far ahead of their nearest competitors. From my perspective, this is
the heart and soul of digital transformation: the ability to anticipate anddeploy new technology faster and better than your competitors.Let’s take a brief look at the recent evolution of digital transformation. Itbegan with electronic data processing on a limited network. This in turnled to “islands of automation,” which we consolidated and built into datacenters.The sprawling infrastructure that followed went through its ownevolutionary period of consolidation and then for the first time we steppedaway from core infrastructure offerings to a realm that includedcapabilities such as business process management, total qualitymanagement, and business process reengineering. Eventually, the complexand expensive platforms built to support those earlier capabilities evolvedinto platforms that were more modular and more affordable, setting thestage for the era of continuous digital transformation we are experiencingtoday.It’s true that technology moves at a rapid pace and it seems that theprinciple behind Moore’s law can now be extended to every aspect ofdigital transformation, which is why it may seem monumental whenlooked at holistically. In many respects, digital transformation is thenewest incarnation in the never-ending quest for competitive advantage.That’s why people often use the terms “digital transformation” and“business transformation” interchangeably, which only adds to the generalsense of confusion.BETTER CONVERSATIONSIn the past, digital evolution relied heavily on prior investments and the
foundations of coding, infrastructure, and data centers. Today’s incarnationof digital evolution relies very little on legacy solutions.It’s almost as if there has been a change in our DNA, a shift in ourapproach to solving business problems. Today, our emphasis is not onmaking the LEGO blocks themselves; instead, we’re focused on puttingthe blocks together to create the infrastructure we need to deliver value.We’ve gone from building systems to creating digital experiences; fromconstructing data centers to creating on-demand infrastructure; fromarchitecting networks to plugging into the web; and from setting upfirewalls to sophisticated cybersecurity practices.YesterdayTodayBuilding systems=>Creating digital experiencesConstructing data centers=>Creating on-demand infrastructureArchitecting networks=>Plugging into the InternetConfiguring firewalls=>Zero-trust cybersecurity strategiesMost importantly, we’re enabling the business to move far beyondtraditional sales and marketing strategies. Instead of helping the companysearch for customers, we’re helping customers find us. We’re setting updigital ecosystems, enabling us to meet and interact with our customerswhere they live, work, and relax. Sometimes our customers are in physicallocations and sometimes they’re on web browsers or their mobile apps. Nomatter where they are, digital transformation enables you to reach out andinteract with them.
FASTER TRANSACTIONSThe output from a digital ecosystem is data, not information.Now that we are creating environments for our customers to digitallyinteract with us, enabling the fastest possible transactions, these vastvolumes of data need to be able to tell a story, shape the conversation,provide management with indicative trends, improve the supply chain,make decisions on investments, and so on.But this poses its own set of challenges; unlike the digital marketing worldwhere data volumes are large and complex and the fragmentation frommultiple social channels is mind numbing, for the most part organizeddigital ecosystems that companies are now maturing to churn out morestructured data, not information.That’s up to the quality of analytics that we can churn out and is no smallfeat. Moreover, this information that is culled from the data needs to be innear real-time or instantaneous depending on the business. This calls for adifferent type of compute and certainly more precise information.To consider the future of these complex ecosystems, one case in particularmakes for an interesting example—a smart city ecosystem. IoT sensorswill most likely be built into everything from traffic light triggers, to lanekeeping mechanisms, e-commerce from a moving connected vehicle,speed tracking built into street lights, pedestrian heat tracking sensors incars, autonomous vehicles, electric vehicle charging stations, smart keys,vehicle remote control apps, and various other safety features.The data output from these various sources needs to come together rapidlyand often quite simply either to elicit an immediate response from a driver
or for guidance to a vehicle to take immediate action. This would besimilar to airline anti-collision technology but at a much higher rate oftransmission due to the volume of vehicles in close proximity.PRECISE INFORMATIONI recently sat down with a lead engineer dealing with complexunstructured data sets from e-commerce channels and the biggestchallenge that team faced was the lack of standards among the varioussources. The engineers on that team spent 70% of their time ensuring thatthe data sets could be joined up in some meaningful way. Then they spentthe rest of the time running analytical algorithms on the data.Unfortunately, this challenge is more common than one would assume.While faster transactions give the aura of high performance and accuracy,the true value is in deciphering the data at a rapid pace.Here’s where machine learning and pattern matching can be highly useful.Often grouped under the general heading of artificial intelligence, they arepractical methods for using raw compute power to find data patterns thatcan deliver macro results, discover anomalies, and pinpoint hidden issues.Machine learning and pattern matching methods aren’t magical, however.Both depend on algorithms, which are step-by-step processes written bypeople and used by computers for processing data. Typically, algorithmsneed time to “understand” the data they’re handling. The more data youfeed them, the more they will learn. After an initial period of learning, thealgorithms can dramatically shorten the span of time required to arrive atthe goal of information precision.The engineering team I mentioned earlier implemented a machine learning
layer on top of the unstructured data set and established data joins in underan hour, an achievement that would have been impossible just a few yearsago due to the volume and complexity of the data. The informationderived from their efforts helped their client gain new insights andcompete more effectively in a crowded market.Key Strategic Elements and SuccessFactorsAssume nothing. That’s a lesson I’ve learned first-hand over my career. Forinstance, it would be easy to assume that a successful transformationstrategy depends largely on having a good set of ground rules. Whileground rules are important, they are not sufficient to guarantee a positiveoutcome.While I’ve always known this, my conversation with Hendra, president ofOgilvy Consulting, reemphasized that transformation involves more thanpeople, process, and technology. It also involves culture.Anna Frazetto, the chief digital technology officer and president at NashTech Global, states that in her experience, company culture drivestransformation and technological adoption in an organization.“Think about it! It all starts with the top and the vision … The visioncreates the culture. You hire with that in mind and before you know it, thatis what shapes a company,” she says. “I feel that the embedded culture isthe bloodline of a company and it will drive success and must beunderstood before embarking on a transformation journey.”
Culture is the critical factor in transformational efforts. It is both theprerequisite and the foundation for success. If you don’t change theculture, the rest of your efforts will be wasted.Without cultural transformation, the organization will continue followingthe same path it has followed for years or decades. “People will keepdoing things the way they already know,” Hendra says.In the short term, you can force some modest behavioral changes throughthe introduction of new technologies, new processes, and new employees.You may win some battles—but you will lose the war.That why we usually refer to transformation as a “strategy.” It’s not aseries of steps—it’s a holistic process with thousands of moving parts,unfolding over time and space.For example, Hendra and her team recently helped a large multinationalcompany stay on track over the course of its transformation, whichincluded designing and building digital hubs in several countries.Additionally, the company needed to transform elements of its coretechnology stack, which required replacing systems, retraining managers,and hiring new groups of workers. The new technologies, processes, andpeople all had to fit together and operate smoothly within the company’sculture, which was also adapting and evolving to keep pace with itscustomers. Fortunately, the company’s CEO understood the complexity ofthe transformation and remained a steadfast champion through thick andthin. This sponsorship aspect of the equation is echoed by Frazetto:Several times what I find is that the challenges are with the existingmanagement team. The first step is getting buy-in and agreement
from all the necessary participants. Once we establish that course ofaction, we break it down into smaller components ranging from theprocess to the staff and to the technology currently in place.The transformation referenced by Hendra has produced strong andconsistently positive results in all of the company’s markets, demonstratingthe benefits of persevering in the face of monumental challenges.Forging a Transformation RealityWhen do business leaders first realize they need to do somethingdifferent? Is there a definitive moment when a light bulb goes off, or is it agradual process of realization?The simple answer is, “All of the above.” But in truth, mosttransformational strategies are born of fear. Companies talk and talk abouttransformation, but what finally gets them off the dime is having acompetitor threatening to disrupt their core business model. That’s whenthe talk turns into action.Disruption comes in various sizes, shapes, and flavors. Different industriesexperience different kinds of disruption and must therefore developdifferent types of transformational strategies.For example, companies operating in industries such as hospitality, retail,and financial services are generally more sensitive to quarterly results thancompanies in industries such as mining, manufacturing, and refining. Thatsensitivity usually influences the speed of their transformation. A companythat worries about its quarterly earnings will probably transform itselffaster than a company that doesn’t.
Each industry has a moment when outside forces compel a majortransformation. It’s almost like a law of nature. In the retail bankingindustry, for instance, when one bank began offering mobile deposits,every other bank quickly followed suit. They really didn’t have a choice—they had to transform or die.The proliferation of smart personal devices has generated a continual raceto innovate and win customers by offering conveniences and capabilitiesyour competitors don’t yet offer. Companies in consumer-facing marketsare racing to offer the best customer service, the best apps, and the bestrewards programs. This is truly the new face of competition.As Hendra observes, this continual race to outdo the competition meansthat every company must run at top speed just to stay in place. Innovatingin this kind of environment requires nerves of steel and supernaturalspeed, neither of which are easily purchasable commodities.So how do traditional companies remain competitive? Many respond tooutside pressure by acquiring or merging with companies that specialize inrapid innovation. Sometimes they create entirely new companies that arespun off but remain in orbit around the parent company.Recruiting, hiring, and retaining top talent is a major issue for companiesto a far greater degree than ever before. Today, companies don’t merelyneed talented people—they need super-talented people!The talent conversation could not be a more pertinent one at this momentin time. Frazetto looks introspectively at the trajectory of change over justa few years: “I think life was simpler 10 years ago or even 5 years ago incomparison to today. So, when you marry technological advancements
(harder skill required) with transformation and competitive pressures youwind up with the skill sets being compounded and getting more complex.No one ever looks for just one skill set any more.”Determined or Distraught?Meredith Whalen is chief research officer at IDC and a member of thesenior management team. She leads IDC’s worldwide researchorganization, product management, marketing, and client servicesfunctions, setting the direction and agenda for IDC’s worldwide researchproducts. Her international team of 1,100 analysts leverage research andadvisory services to empower business transformation for the Global2000, and counsel technology suppliers on creating effective offerings forthe digital economy.I asked Meredith to help me understand why some organizations strugglewith digital transformation, and she generously shared her team’s research.According to their surveys, organizations with transformational goals fallinto two categories: the “digitally determined” (46%) and the “digitallydistraught” (54%) (see Figure 10.2).“When we looked at the data, we saw common threads,” Meredithexplains. “The ‘digitally determined’ organizations make sure they’rereally executing on one strategy, one vision for digitally transforming theorganization. They have an integrated enterprise-wide digital strategy.”By contrast, she notes, the “digitally distraught” organizations hadmultiple strategies. In some organizations, it seemed as though “each lineof business or each functional area had its own digital transformationstrategy and its own digital roadmap.”
Figure 10.2Source: IDC Global Leaders Survey North American sample, June 2018.In a recent report, Meredith writes that becoming “digitally determined”requires more than grit and tenacity. It requires a blueprint with fouressential components:1. Create organizational alignment and culture around digital.2. Employ a single enterprise-wide strategy.3. Demonstrate inherent value of digital.4. Scale digital innovations with an integrated platform.In our conversation, it became clear to me that leadership is a criticaldifferentiator between “determined” and “distraught” organizations.“Transformation requires a top-down approach,” Meredith says. “Youneed a CEO who says, ‘I’m going to make the hard decisions and therewill be changes here.’ The ‘digitally determined’ are willing to dowhatever it takes, even if it means upsetting the applecart.”1
Based on their findings, the IDC research team lists five key focus areasfor “digitally determined” organizations:1. Creating digital KPIs2. Establishing an end-state digital organizational structure3. Constructing a long-term digital roadmap4. Developing the most important digital capabilities5. Building a digital platformI found the IDC analysis to be especially useful, and I am grateful toMeredith for permitting me to quote from her reports and articles in thisbook. I also recommend reading Meredith’s blog post, “The DigitallyDetermined Blueprint,” in which she details the steps followed bysuccessful organizations to achieve their transformational goals.Tone from the TopWhether you end up with the much-desired streamlined ecosystem orpoorly integrated islands of automation depends entirely on the tone fromthe top. A central strategy and appropriate funding for the right initiativesdrives the planned and predetermined outcome, often exceedingexpectations. A great strategy, but significant autonomy in downstreamdecision-making within organization P&L’s can be disastrous in a digitaltransformation. The latter advances individual careers and generatesimpressive case studies of shiny new tech adoption but has a retardingeffect on the overall transformation strategy.More often than not, digital transformation is more impactful within well-23
run companies where there is a singular North Star and all decisions,investments, and attitudes follow that star.While not every aspect of these organizations works perfectly, they havedeveloped a mindset and strategy that ensures alignment at almost all stepsand back that up with a governance model that keeps the plan on its flightpath. The outcomes are reflected in the results of organizations like theseand the pace feels like a jet being catapulted off a carrier deck.The obvious area where transformations typically fall flat is when businessstrategies are disconnected from execution plans, and while thesedisconnects become apparent early in the journey, the truly dangerous onesare when the strategy is subtly disconnected from the execution. Here is abrief list of issues that can derail a transformation project:Lack of process governanceMinimal operational cadenceLack of formalized outcome trackingVague predefined benefits identificationWeak or non-dedicated project managementToo many consultants and too few doersLack of specific goals for key staffPoor technology decisionsAny of those issues has the potential to create redundant or unnecessarywork for staff, resulting in missed deadlines and significant delays. Worse
yet, endless rounds of “busy work” can yield the false impression thatprogress is imminent, despite the absence of measurable achievements.Lack of staff motivation is an underlying and often critical issue that canengender low morale, lackluster performance, and a general sense ofaimless confusion. Great leaders don’t ignore the importance ofmotivation; they strive to maintain high levels of engagement, especiallyduring periods of rapid change.NET TAKEAWAYS1. Transformation programs must be driven by a singular businessstrategy but can be broken down into multiple subprograms.2. Transformation is a business strategy, not a series oftechnological advances.3. Governance across the various activities along with technologicalinvestments must be centralized to allow for fewer integrationchallenges.4. Progress reporting, project benefits measurement, and issueresolution must be tracked with regular and defined cadence.5. Leverage design thinking for rapid problem solving wherepossible.6. Seek informal feedback from casual conversations withemployees, managers, and executives to get a feel for what’sworking and what could be improved.7. Digital transformation is always defined in terms of businessbenefit.
Notes1. 1 IDC PERSPECTIVE: A DX Blueprint from the Digitally Determined,by Meredith Whalen.2. 2 IDC PERSPECTIVE: How to Break Through the DigitalTransformation Deadlock, by Meredith Whalen.3. 3 https://blogs.idc.com/2018/06/26/the-digitally-determined-blueprint/.
Chapter 12Looking Ahead: Runway orPrecipice?Executive Summary: Many of the new terms bandied about today areessentially buzzwords. But not everything you see or hear is hype. Thereare serious challenges ahead, and you must prepare your organization andyourself for handling them effectively. This chapter is basically a list ofnewer technologies, with advice and suggestions for avoiding missteps.A Google search for the term “digital transformation” will yield nearlyhalf a million results in less than a second. A search for “artificialintelligence” will generate even more results in about the same fraction ofa second. Searching for terms such as “machine learning,” “virtualreality,” “big data,” “robotics,” “predictive analytics,” “blockchain,” and“quantum computing” will yield generally similar results.If you work in the field of business or technology, you can be certain thatpeople will be asking you for your opinion on the above mentioned terms.My advice is to be prepared. Have simple, easy answers ready—becausethe questions will be asked, I guarantee you!With that thought in mind, here are some of the responses I typically givewhen asked about the latest, greatest developments in tech.Artificial Intelligence
AI still induces a combination of fear and skepticism in most people. Frommy perspective as a business executive, only a handful of AI solutions aremature enough to be readily adopted. In other words, AI is highlypromising, but it’s not ready for prime time.In summary, AI has a lot of promise and is progressing steadily but beforetrying to leverage it within a business the basic rules still apply—garbagein/garbage out.If posed with an investment decision, focus the conversation around thequality of data that will drive intelligent outcomes, not necessarily just thevolume. Good business process will lead to better opportunities toleverage artificial intelligence.BlockchainBlockchain is definitely not for everyone. Much has been made about thistechnology because it is the foundational technology of moderncryptocurrencies. Blockchain itself is not cryptocurrency, but it supportscryptocurrency transactions.But in layman’s terms let’s boil it down to a simpler context. Imagine thatwe have a small company with offices in New York, London, andSingapore, all working off a single expense record book. Here’s the“traditional” scenario:The New York office keeps the record book and the other twooffices update the book when they incur an expense.Only the New York office is aware of all transactions across the
three offices.In the event of a security breach in any of the three locations,information could be altered for fraudulent purposes withrelatively little chance of detection.In a “blockchain” scenario, each office is a “node” in a secure network andeach of the offices would have access to the most current version of therecord book in real time. If, for example, the London office incurred anexpense, the record would be validated with the other two offices and theencrypted blockchain would be updated.A security breach at one office would not compromise the network;attackers would have to breach all three nodes to succeed. Attempting tobreach all three nodes would require a tremendous amount of computingpower, which is why blockchain is considered more secure than traditionalmethods of keeping records.So far, blockchain has proven useful for validating complex supply chains,moving valuable cargo, cryptocurrency, money transfers, land titles,copyrights, and so on with an ever-increasing list. Being in early stages ofadoption, there are very few examples of its full-blown use. It will besome time before there is enough maturity in the market where use casesbecome more frequent.If posed with an investment decision, be aware that blockchain exchangesare starting to become a service provided by the big cloud providers due totheir heavy computing requirements. Just like cloud providers that slowlyproliferated the technology market, Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) willprovide more opportunities for organizations to leverage this technology.
RoboticsRobots have learned to ride bicycles, assemble cars, defuse bombs, anddeliver groceries. But don’t hold your breath waiting for them to take overyour office job.From a business perspective, robots (aka “bots”) mostly handle processautomation tasks. Bots can do the mundane, repetitive, and voluminoustasks that people really don’t enjoy doing. This kind of robotics is calledrobotics process automation (RPA), and is rapidly becoming one of thecommon types of automation. It works best when the organization alreadyhas orderly, well-established, and tightly governed processes.RPA was traditionally called scripting and has been around from the earlydays of software coding; when developers would write software modulesthat did repetitive tasks, these modules would then be “summoned” withinthe context of a larger computing transaction. The simple differencebetween traditional scripting and modern robotics is that softwarecompanies have made it into platforms that are abstracted from softwarecode and can be written by using relatively natural language terminology.Scripts or bots can be written and integrated to almost any platform outthere. For example, if you run Oracle, Microsoft, or SAP as a financialaccounting software, RPA platforms from companies such as UI Path andAutomation Anywhere can run process automation independent of thataccounting software. They automate processes to mimic what a typicaluser would do repetitively.Case studies show that RPA as a technology is very useful but manyorganizations are not culturally ready for it and some level of digital
proficiency would help remove the employee fear factor and leverage thetechnology for what it is. The large management consulting organizations,financial firms, and life insurance are a few industries that use roboticsextensively, effectively, and glean great benefits from it. I have seen otherindustries use RPA to prepare large data sets for analytics, speed up back-office processes, and help get products quicker to market. Robotics,though often associated with taking over repetitive human tasks, poses ahigher risk for business process outsourcers (BPOs). Many companiesalready have their back and middle office work outsourced and leveragesome form of labor arbitrage that very outsourced labor will steadily beautomated and will force the renegotiation of contracts. Some companiesare taking a proactive stance and offering better pricing as a result ofinternal automation.If faced with an internal investment decision, ask questions around thebusiness problem it will solve first. Then ask questions around quality andgovernance of the business processes. Needless to say, it’s easier tounderstand process automation when the process is streamlined and muchharder when the process is fragmented. RPA done right can deliversolutions to complex business challenges and yield efficiency and costsavings while doing so.Virtual RealityIt was the peak of winter and I was piloting a Boeing 777 aircraft intoJohn F. Kennedy airport in New York with over 280 passengers on board.I turned on the seatbelt signs as strong winds buffeted my aircraft and Ilined up for runway 4L. That’s when the rain and hail started. Visibilitywas low and I was relying purely on my cockpit instruments; I wasn’t sure
I’d be able to land when the tower cleared me on my final approach. Thelanding was too fast and way too hard. I bounced twice, sped down therunway, brakes screeching, engines in reverse and I still skidded off theend of the runway to come to a complete stop. Then I sat back in relief andtook a sip of my coffee while not caring what happened to my passengers.The coffee was real, the aircraft wasn’t.It was the nearest bad-weather “reality” scenario I could muster with thelimited knowledge of my favorite hobby, flight simulation. In virtualreality mode it feels like the real thing!In another similar scenario, the movie Avatar in 3D was awe-inspiring forme as the immersive scenes caused one to move through large objects thatdefied gravity while dragons flew around.There is a subtle difference between the two scenarios; while a 3D movieplaces you in the magic of the moment, you just watch and react tothrilling events in the film that can be entirely imaginary. Virtual reality onthe other hand creates visual or interactive spaces with a computer-generated three-dimensional environment based on real-life scenarios, likean aircraft landing while sitting in the pilot’s seat.In order to do this, one needs a couple of simple pieces of technologyequipment, usually a headset and a controller—the headset to view theimages or specific objects within the 3D environment, think of it as amouse pointer, and the controller to take action. For example, if driving ina virtual car, the controller can be a steering wheel and pedals, or for avirtual flight, a flight yoke, and so on. Whatever the application, you areremoved from the world around you in a completely immersive
experience.People often confuse virtual reality with “augmented reality.” The latteractually enables apps on devices to insert objects into live scenarios. Thebest example of this was the Pokémon craze a few years ago. By pointingyour phone camera at certain areas, for example, street intersections,parks, or other such locations, you could see the presence of a Pokémoncharacter at the location—they were augmenting the reality of yoursurroundings while you were present at the location.Virtual reality has been around for a while but newer technology andcommercialization of headsets and controllers has made it more accessibleto consumers.The premise is that VR is so immersive that we will be able to recreateany physical world task or interaction within the virtual space and trainour employees, give customers the closest experience of really driving thecar they want to buy, show customers what the first-class cabin experiencereally looks like, stand at the edge of Niagara Falls, or walk throughMachu Picchu. For the first time gamification of customer experience andtraining scenarios do really sound like fun.Could there be applications for patients who are bedridden to get a fewmoments of escape or physical therapy landscapes better than the sterileenvironments of a doctor’s office? I could cite at least 15 differentapplication opportunities to use VR but the ideas are only as limited asyour thinking will allow.If faced with an internal technology investment question, consider yourtype of business: Is it customer experience-based or would it be better
utilized for internal training purposes? Almost all industries have thepotential to benefit from the virtual reality ecosystem—from contentcreators to experience creators such as digital marketing units to businessand retail consumers. While costs could vary depending on the scale of theundertaking, a well-designed memorable experience is priceless and putsyou on the cutting edge of modern tech.Big DataHow big is BIG? I was involved in a project where our data group was inan experimental stage with a database technology company, a SiliconValley startup. In order to test their capability, the group decided to sendthem a small file. When I queried what “small” meant, I found that thedatabase had 65 million records!When large trucks pulled up outside our offices to collect boxes ofpermanent financial records, we never called it “big paperwork.” In fact,the old paper-based management of transactions, be they financial, retail,or business related, had extremely limited value for mining or analyzingthe data within. In the environment we live in today, almost everytransaction from sensors in vehicles, factory machinery, online retaildatabases, search engines, points in a supply chain, Internet browsers,game consoles, smart TVs, cell phone towers, smart watches, voiceactivated devices, or your car GPS all generate data outputs from atransaction or data touchpoints from interacting with other devices orpeople. These volumes of data are undoubtedly large and can yieldvaluable information if mined or analyzed. Given these volumes,technologies are now available to segment, dissect, and analyzemeaningful patterns and outputs to support business decisions, wear and
tear on equipment, utilization of machinery, and many, many more uses.This data due to its voluminous and seemingly ever-growing scale is oftenreferred to as “big data.” The advantages are plenty and even smallbusinesses are able to benefit from this method of capturing and analyzingoutcomes from data as they take advantage of affordable and easilyaccessible cloud-based technology services.If faced with an investment decision, discuss the benefits ofpersonalization, decision support, field maintenance, and customer serviceby using the analyzed data to your business advantage. And while benefitsmay vary, issues related to data privacy must be clearly addressed with anyscenario. Some organizations using this data capability may have arelatively small geographical footprint but even though big data tends tobe anonymized, a good thumb rule is to take the most stringent globalprivacy rules and apply them to your environment. This can be aconfusing and complicated area and if a “data privacy officer” is not adesignated role in your organization, professional legal advice should besought.Cloud“Islands of automation” was a term coined in the early days of networkcomputing to indicate limitations of interconnectivity between computersystems. Companies often maintained local computing centers in each oftheir locations, called data centers. Later in the evolution of networking,wide area networks (WANs) started creating better interconnected systemswith less duplication of servers and applications. With the proliferation ofnetwork connectivity, centralization of these data centers was the next
stage of consolidation but these centers were still extremely expensive torun; they had to have back-up data centers for disaster recovery; they hadto maintain efficient cooling systems to handle the heat generated by thecomputer equipment; often they occupied expensive real estate; and theyhad to be monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Butmost importantly, they were never fully utilized. For the most part,systems ran at peak during business hours and sat idle in off hours; evenround-the-clock operations could not efficiently utilize all the availablecomputing power of servers.Over time, this morphed into a solution where the hardware and networkwas built up by service providers and made available to buyers in bite-sized chunks—this came to be known as cloud computing. By way of asimple analogy, cloud computing is similar to a hotel. You go in and rentsome space with all the amenities of heating, cooling, plumbing, secureaccess, etc. You can upgrade if you wish, or take the bargain rate, and youcan also buy more space and stay for longer or checkout when you’redone, but you would never have to build or buy your own hotel. Cloudcomputing works on a similar concept. You buy the computing power,network, and storage for the capacity you need for a fully functioning datacenter.This capability has widened to a broader ecosystem of “managed services”or cloud-based applications where the vendor or supplier provides an end-to-end method of a given service, for example, Gmail or Office365, whereall you need is a contract and a browser to make it work. This does notimply that you don’t need some of those technology skills internally; inalmost all cases integration to other systems, including security and accessto these systems, is handled internally.
If faced with an investment decision, it is crucial to get your internaltechnology architects involved early. Cloud contracts related to dataretention and transfer can also be complex. While most cloud vendorshave figured out the best ways to resolve this, “vendor lock-in” can be aserious problem if you decide to change providers in the next few years.Also question where your data resides; if in another country, what lawsapply. What failover options they have for disaster recovery andunderstanding their integration capabilities for today, as well as a roadmapof the future, are crucial. There is also the concept of private cloud, publiccloud, and hybrid cloud—but leave that to your architects to decide theright approach for your business.Internet of ThingsYou’ve probably received notification emails for when your credit cardpayment is due or your online order has shipped. But that casual methodof notification is relatively passé compared to the sensor in your car tellingyou the inflation level in your tires in real time, or your dishwasher tellingyour maintenance company of a potential issue, or the motion sensor inyour thermostat adjusting the room temperature based on activity in thatarea.Sensors are now being built into everything and are connected to delivertheir bits of information to other sensors that trigger a reaction or sendinformation to relevant recipients to take action very rapidly, not like theold methods of asynchronous email.Industrial use of sensors have been around for a while; over a decade ago alarge microchip manufacturer was able to tell the age of fresh produce
being transported by attaching a small RFID chip to the inside of ashipping container. Wearable technologies help workers build planes whilereducing exhaustion from carrying heavy equipment. Sensors in tractors infields thousands of miles away can inform a monitoring center of abreakdown or even help prevent one.However, in today’s scenario, sensors are now placed into everything wetouch and create ecosystems that presumably support our every humanconvenience. If you want to check your heart rate while at the gym, justglance at your watch. If you want to see who rang your doorbell whileyou’re in another city, just glance at your phone. You can even open doorsremotely for your kids by hitting that smartlock app—and the list goes on.This is the hyperconnected world we live in and refer to as the “Internet ofThings” (IoT). IoT is here to stay and enables a world where theseconnected sensors provide invaluable conveniences and save time andmoney for a generation glued to interactive handheld devices. Manyindustries have capitalized on this and continue to invest in IoT ininnovative ways as seen here.If faced with an investment decision, the technology is constantly evolvingand there are companies that can assist with every aspect of your businessneeds if you choose to go with IoT. The important questions would bemore around user experience (also known as UX), what data will youcollect, what information would you glean from data sensors in yourproduct, and how you will respond to that information. Will you improveservice, will it be used to improve the product itself, will you use it tocross-sell, would the data help drive acquisition strategy to fill strategicneeds gaps? The opportunities are tremendous.
Marketing Automation and ProgrammaticAdvertisingYou search online for an airline ticket and you coincidentally startreceiving emails with destination guides, discount tours, airline perks andbenefits, maybe even a credit card tied to specific airlines.Congratulations, you are most likely the successful target of a marketingautomation program. This is not bad news as you will get informationrelevant to that initial search and it also means that marketers have data onyour persona and can connect with you through multiple channels.Typically within the business landscape that persona is managed by acustomer relationship management (CRM) platform where various piecesof information about a customer are stored, including last contact, natureof contact, and potential for a sale or contract, etc. This in turn allows fortargeted marketing campaigns with focused information. The process ofbeing able to serve up an offer to a buyer in an automated way throughmultiple digital touchpoints is often referred to as marketing automation.But what happens when great CRM platforms are not available?One nuance of marketing automation in the digital space is calledprogrammatic advertising. A simple form of how this works is outlinedbelow. For example:A user browses the Internet; data management platforms (DMPs)constantly collect and analyze cookies off the user’s browser. Thisanalysis creates a target audience profile and a better view of thecustomer’s online profile through search, and so on.
In order to make good use of these profiles and post them onvarious online properties, the intermediary between the dataplatform and the supplier is the demand-side platform (DSP). Thisplatform evaluates the impression based on certain data points andsubmits a bid to the supplier.Publishers manage their online inventory on supplier-sideplatforms that keep track of the unsold inventory; they also pickfrom the highest bidder for available inventory.The end result of the above three steps is that an ad is served to auser online.There are different reasons for bids to be higher or lower, as an example:One of them may be brand awareness, and position on a webpagemay not be as important as long as it appears frequently on asmany web pages as possible.Another reason may be that the brand wants a distinct call toaction and wants the user to click for more information or to buy aproduct. These would be placed strategically on the webpage andare often referred to as “above the fold,” as in a folded newspaper,where you see the headline first.Programmatic advertising is advancing as a result of the technologiesmentioned above, such as AI, big data, and robotics, and has increasinglymatured for television as well as connected TVs, to become part of theInternet ecosystem. Opportunities to assign ads based on television contentor target audience increase as the inclination of consumers to use video ondemand and other streaming methods, also referred to as “nonlinear TV,”
increases. The method by which you cannot pause or forward ads isreferred to as “linear TV.”If faced with an investment decision, consider engaging specialized digitalagencies to run this for you, especially if you are a small to medium-sizedbusiness.Large companies often make the investment in the overall platform andengage digital agencies to support parts of it due to its variousspecializations. This is an involved, always-on type of ecosystem andneeds skills that can handle managing branding, brand awareness,customer engagement, and customer conversion through e-commerceplatforms.Even though attribution for the quote “Data is the new oil” is not clear, ithas some relevance here. If you’ve worked with oil, you know it’s messyand needs to go through a process before it is usable in an internalcombustion engine.Similarly, marketing automation also has a significant data play andanalysts and data scientists work behind the scenes to cleanse data andmanage these complex platforms before the data is in a usable format,which makes internalizing and supporting this platform a seriousconsideration.Don’t Get Fooled Again…Have you ever seen an ad for a great product in a glossy magazine, only toorder it and receive a piece of cheap molded plastic? It happens less oftenwith the onset of Internet reviews, but it does happen.
Applications work pretty much the same way. While most modernapplications have all the makings of a solid foundation, some applicationsjust have glossy exteriors. These apps are easy to create with tools readilyavailable to a 12-year-old with an interest in building them. However, wesee more often than not that senior executives succumb to the “look andfeel” of an application or platform rather than its underlying framework.Think of a sleek Formula One car body with a motorcycle engine.Similarly, application architecture can be complex and should not bedecided on based on just its look and feel.From the early 1980s, the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model hashelped create a logical breakdown for interconnected networks andapplication protocols. While a lot of the methods are used to create apps,the fundamental way they interact with the network remains the same.Even within a cloud environment the basic logic of the OSI model is stillapplicable.The OSI model contains seven layers and is a good teaching tool, asannotated below:1. 7. Application2. 6. Presentation3. 5. Session4. 4. Transport5. 3. Network6. 2. Data7. 1. Physical
This is not meant to be a technical explanation of each layer but I’ve oftenused this analogy with executives to show them just one dimension of thecomplexity that sits under the glossy exterior of the application or Layer 7that they might be looking at. Applications have their own sets ofintegration options with terms like application programing interfaces(APIs), service-oriented architectures (SOAs) and other gnarlyexpressions only suitable for use by integration gurus.If faced with an investment decision, bring in your technology architectsearly—then trust their evaluation. No matter how great an app looks, ifyour architect says it is a risky proposition, it most likely is.Newer technological advancements are more complex than ever before.New terminology and acronyms already proliferate our conversations andit’s hard to keep up with an understanding of each and every one of them.Digital transformation leaders need to be skilled in the art of storytelling.They have to break down these complex technological advancements intorelatable experiences for their audiences in the boardroom and the backoffice. Furthermore, they have to leverage their digital proficiency skills inorder to make the right transformative decisions while maintaining aninnovative edge at all times.NET TAKEAWAYS1. New technologies and their acronyms will come and go; alwaysfocus your investment decision on the core business purpose.2. Involve professionals to objectively evaluate the underpinningsof modern data services or technology offerings that you want to
acquire.3. Familiarize yourself with the fundamental aspects of the newtechnology and explain them to your audiences with practicalanalogies.
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