The Future Is Now
Many companies are making the decision to step forward and implement various forms of Digital Process Automation, namely some version of Robotics Process Automation (RPA). There is a spectrum of Automation (Exhibit 1), from simple tasks that “bots” can easily handle to Artificial Intelligence. RPA is the next generation of process automation, moving from scripts and macros, to automating repetitive activities. Companies are choosing where to jump in and how to stand up to the new business capability.
Exhibit 1
Consumers are waking up to the fact that if they can’t work out what product that a website is selling, then they are probably the product. Or at least, their data is. We’ve all known this, but probably hadn’t realized how much of our data is being harvested, aggregated and then exploited.
Every business is now a digital business and data is the lifeblood. This is a major shift over the last 10 years, but the true impact is really starting to be recognized. This transformation is a as significant as the industrial revolution, and with the same redistribution of wealth.
So, let’s first cover off which industries or areas of business are being impacted by the combined disruptive effect of cloud, social, mobile, big data. That is easy. ALL OF THEM.
The digital business
BPM Maturity is Needed for Digital Business Success
The importance of a process orientation in driving digital business success has been recognized for some time. In the early days of digital – it was already recognized that leading companies succeed with digital by re-envisioning customer experience, operational processes and business models.
Gartner has also stressed the importance of BPM in digital transformation success and predicted that a deficit of BPM maturity may actually prevent 80 percent of organizations from achieving the desired business outcomes from their digitalbusiness strategies.[i]
The main options for deploying digital are:
a) Find a digital tool and deploy it
As with any large infrastructure project, the costs and risks involved in a major innovation program are significant, and how it is led and managed will directly determine its long-term success and sustainability. The secrets of successful digital transformation are usually tightly held by the organizations that achieved them; this new title unlocks the "how" of transformation through digital innovation.
Created from first-hand experiences in leading major innovation programs, supplemented by in-depth interviews with key industry players, each chapter is heavily evidenced with insider insights from the leaders and teams responsible for digital transformations around the world, including: IKEA, the UK Government, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Starbucks, KPMG, Direct Line, and the British Medical Association. Other companies interviewed include Hilton Hotels, Walgreens, Bank of Montreal, and Experian.
Every business begun before the Internet now faces the same challenge: How to transform to compete in a digital economy?
Globally recognized digital expert David L. Rogers argues that digital transformation is not about updating your technology but about upgrading your strategic thinking. Based on Rogers's decade of research and teaching at Columbia Business School, and his consulting for businesses around the world, The Digital Transformation Playbook shows how pre-digital-era companies can reinvigorate their game plans and capture the new opportunities of the digital world.
Rogers shows why traditional businesses need to rethink their underlying assumptions in five domains of strategy―customers, competition, data, innovation, and value. He reveals how to harness customer networks, platforms, big data, rapid experimentation, and disruptive business models―and how to integrate these into your existing business and organization.
The race is on to become a digital enterprise. Every organization has a plan for updating products, technologies, and business processes. But that's not enough anymore. With disruptive startups outperforming industry stalwarts, executives everywhere are pushing greater growth and innovation. Staying competitive demands a complete digital transformation. For professionals charged with leading technology-driven change, the pressure is intense-and the path forward unclear. Author Isaac Sacolick has successfully spearheaded multiple transformations and helped shape digital-business best practices.
History teaches us that there were two large AI Winters in the past. One starting in the mid 1970s and another in the late 1980's There were very clear reasons for the last two AI Winters, but most of the technical and cost issues are gone. The wild card is how humans accept AI this time around. My bet is against another brutal winter. This does not mean there won't be cold snaps, but a 15-20 year freeze out doesn't seem likely now.
The First AI Winter:
It was caused by a couple of major factors. The first and foremost was the lack of computer power. The examples that were put forward were "toy" solutions that really did not appeal to the investors at all. This set off a period of infighting about Natural Language Processing (NLP) in the AI community which scared off the investors for a long time.
The Second AI Winter:
As Shawn Dubravac wrote in Digital Destiny, "Humanity is entering a new era. Beyond the mere acquisition of ever more digital devices with ever more incredible functionality, the immediate future will usher in the all-digital lifestyle and an 'Internet of Everything.' The transformation of our lives will be breathtaking." Now comes the critical question, what are you, as a leader of your organization going to do --transform, or die a slow, painful death?
The top three digital destinations are new business opportunities, better customer loyalty and better business results.
No organization is too big to fail. The avg tenure of a S&P 500 company is forecast to shrink to 14 years by 2026. Large companies are feeling the pressure from customers and competitors to "go digital" more and more everyday.
It starts with digital mini journeys.
Register for this webcast to find out what the top ten fool proof digital mini journeys are.
A successful digital business initiative relies upon adopting agile principles, an enduring focus on improving customer experience and executing programs with a business process based view with enabling digital information technology.
Measuring what matters to customers and challenging the current operating model of the business are two important characteristics of digitally mature organizations.
Join Gregg Rock and our leading digital business experts as they discuss the critical skills needed in your digital transformation initiatives:
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