‘Companies are struggling with effective strategy for Digital Transformation’
Published on : Monday 30-11--0001
Sujata Tilak, Managing Director, Ascent Intellimation.
While most companies are today talking of Digital Transformation, do all of them have effective strategies in place for implementation?
Most companies are indeed struggling with effective strategy for Digital Transformation. They may consider the following points:
- The strategy has to revolve around business (products and services), people, assets and infrastructure.
- Evaluate current business goals in all these areas and think about changes expected in future. Then build an IIoT strategy that will support your current and future needs.
- They should also identify broad areas of application of IIoT. These include Digital Engineering, Smart Manufacturing, Digital Supply Chain, Smart Services, Digital Workplaces and more.
- Evaluate how applications in these areas will deliver value and fulfill your business goals.
What are the impediments in the process of Digital Transformation in the Indian context? Is RoI the key concern?
The biggest impediment is lack of strategy (business objectives) and clear roadmap. Then there is the issue of onboarding people. As Digital Transformation touches practically every person in the organisation, acceptance by people is very critical.
Realistic RoI estimation is definitely a challenge, but I won’t say it is a deal breaker. If business objectives are clear, one can surely identify RoI though exact quantification of returns and timelines may not be possible. This is simply because there are too many variables in that equation and how some of them play out is hard to judge.
As one of the main drivers of the economy, is the SME sector ready for this transformation?
I believe answer to this is ‘yes’. There is so much buzz around digital transformation and Industry 4.0, that it is impossible to remain indifferent. However, key question is whether they are fully prepared for it.
How should the SMEs prepare for Digital Transformation?
Methodology towards Digital Transformation is similar for SMEs or large companies. Following are the stages in preparation:
- Strategy – as outlined above.
- Roadmap – Roadmap for each business unit/department aligned with the strategy. Set priorities and pick top priority items for implementation.
- Planning – Create a cross functional team to lead the initiative. Plan for budgets, resources. Designate owners/champions for each initiative. Evaluate and finalise solutions. Create metric to measure success of each initiative.
- Implementation – Work with solution provider to finalise scope. Divide scope into phases. Implement each phase, measure the results, fine tune, stabilise.
- Post-Implementation – Monitor usage, measure RoI.
Are privacy and cybersecurity concerns regarding the cloud exaggerated?
Need to include security and privacy in system architecture and design is absolutely essential. So as such these concerns are valid. But sometimes level of security and data privacy needed may be exaggerated. The level should be optimum for the given application and one size won’t fit all.
Sujata Tilak is a thought leader in Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and convergence of IT and OT. An Instrumentation & Control engineer from College of Engineering, Pune; Sujata has more than 30 years of experience. She has worked with Alfa Laval and KPIT before founding Ascent Intellimation. She has ably led the company to a niche position as a supplier of software solutions in industrial automation and IIoT space. Sujata has wide ranging experience in areas like environmental monitoring, smart manufacturing, digital transformation etc. Under her leadership, AIPL has conceptualised and developed an innovative Internet of Things platform, PlantConnect and various products based on this platform.