Seven steps to digital transformation: the Cognitive Enterprise model
By Patricia Yim GM, IBM ASEAN
Digital transformation (DX) is an urgent priority for companies to strengthen their competitive advantage amid the bruising effects of COVID-19. Leaders have realised the urgent need to digitalise their operations, cloud-enable their applications, and continue their digital transformation in order to keep their operations going, ahead of the need to emerge as a strong leader in their industry post-pandemic.
Digital infrastructure forms the fundamental backbone supporting cross-border trade, commerce and collaboration especially for each of the 10 member states in the ASEAN economic bloc. Countries must “accelerate the digitalisation of businesses and economies as a collective response to the public health, economic and communications challenges posed by COVID-19”, said Singapore Minister for Communications and Information S Iswaran in April at the Extraordinary G20 Digital Economy Ministers Meeting.
There are some positives, however, as the world gradually begins its part to from COVID-19. A study by McKinsey highlighted that digital adoption has accelerated among consumers and businesses, with data showing that the world has covered five years of progress in merely eight weeks!
Schools have pivoted to 100% online learning and digital classrooms during the circuit breaker period. Supermarkets and even hawkers have shifted to online ordering and delivery as a key business channel. Manufacturers are actively developing plans for “lights out” factories and supply chains, which uses robotics and artificial intelligence to automate production, thereby minimising on-site labour and helping people safe-distance.
So what should companies do now to plan and maintain their digital transformation journeys? What can ASEAN enterprises do to accelerate their DX journey into Cognitive Enterprises that are positioned for future performance and success?
Here are seven key steps dealing both internally with operations and externally with stakeholders:
Identify core business platforms and scale
Create business platforms which work on '3S' - scale, speed and scope. Examples of business platforms include risk management for a bank, merchandising for a retailer, or the supply chain for a consumer goods company.
Strong business platforms differentiate the company by combining data, unique workflows and expertise to drive competitive advantage, and enable best-in-class performance. They are highly architected along with highly interoperable system components and infrastructure built using cloud, artificial intelligence (AI), and other exponential technologies.
Use data analytics to your advantage
Find strength in numbers and leverage insights from data. Companies leverage the data they gather from multiple channels, and identify insights to understand their customer and fulfil expectations even before these are expressed. They ‘listen’ to their customers and apply AI-based tools to make sense of the data and use it for personalised messaging to customers.
Architect your business for change
A Cognitive Enterprise conceptualises a blueprint to define its structure and operations while accommodating continuous change. Thereby, organisations should focus on planned growth and position their business to maximise the use of emerging technologies.
Companies can no longer afford to take a wait-and-see approach to determine what works for others in their industry, or which technology or service is going to 'win'. Enterprise architecture – like business strategy – must anticipate the future but also keep its options open.
Agility and adapting fast
Cognitive Enterprises should be able to think and deliver fast. They are open to learning and have the courage to change direction on the basis of what they learn. Business platforms supporting well-integrated and cognitively-enabled workflows are becoming the ideal habitat for agile leaders and teams.
Humanised workflows around AI
Companies are increasingly relying on AI and exponential technologies to direct their actions and provide humanised experiences to customers. They deploy AI to augment employee decisions, help them interpret what customers want, and interact with customers in ways that builds trust.
Trust and security
These two parameters are critical to a Cognitive Enterprise. To earn the trust of customers and utilise their personal data, companies should reduce the vulnerability of single players across their IT ecosystem, by leveraging AI and machine learning capabilities on business platforms, especially those that interoperate with other platforms.
Develop and leverage a robust security toolkit to stay ahead of malicious actors equipped with advanced technologies. This includes conducting rapid and continuous testing with working code implementations informed by up-to-date data on recent attacks and defences.
Ignite talent
The key to driving DX is your people. But it can be difficult for companies to find skilled workforce familiar with cognitive technologies, as every company is looking for professionals from a limited talent pool. Under such circumstances, companies should apply AI tools to their HR workflows and gain insights into what skills they really need now and in the future, to determine how the demand can be met. Companies can also use AI tools to identify talent within the organisation and enable peer-to-peer learning.
The extent you enable your company’s digital transformation depends on the extent you implement these seven steps in your enterprise. The DX journey involves the entire organisation becoming agile and capable of taking advantage of digital tools and technologies, whether to optimise the supply chain, offer customer quicker deliveries, or enable stakeholders to quickly connect with your organisation.
Digital transformation (DX) is an urgent priority for companies to strengthen their competitive advantage amid the bruising effects of COVID-19. Leaders have realised the urgent need to digitalise their operations, cloud-enable their applications, and continue their digital transformation in order to keep their operations going, ahead of the need to emerge as a strong leader in their industry post-pandemic.
Digital infrastructure forms the fundamental backbone supporting cross-border trade, commerce and collaboration especially for each of the 10 member states in the ASEAN economic bloc. Countries must “accelerate the digitalisation of businesses and economies as a collective response to the public health, economic and communications challenges posed by COVID-19”, said Singapore Minister for Communications and Information S Iswaran in April at the Extraordinary G20 Digital Economy Ministers Meeting.
There are some positives, however, as the world gradually begins its part to from COVID-19. A study by McKinsey highlighted that digital adoption has accelerated among consumers and businesses, with data showing that the world has covered five years of progress in merely eight weeks!
Schools have pivoted to 100% online learning and digital classrooms during the circuit breaker period. Supermarkets and even hawkers have shifted to online ordering and delivery as a key business channel. Manufacturers are actively developing plans for “lights out” factories and supply chains, which uses robotics and artificial intelligence to automate production, thereby minimising on-site labour and helping people safe-distance.
So what should companies do now to plan and maintain their digital transformation journeys? What can ASEAN enterprises do to accelerate their DX journey into Cognitive Enterprises that are positioned for future performance and success?
Here are seven key steps dealing both internally with operations and externally with stakeholders:
Identify core business platforms and scale
Create business platforms which work on '3S' - scale, speed and scope. Examples of business platforms include risk management for a bank, merchandising for a retailer, or the supply chain for a consumer goods company.
Strong business platforms differentiate the company by combining data, unique workflows and expertise to drive competitive advantage, and enable best-in-class performance. They are highly architected along with highly interoperable system components and infrastructure built using cloud, artificial intelligence (AI), and other exponential technologies.
Use data analytics to your advantage
Find strength in numbers and leverage insights from data. Companies leverage the data they gather from multiple channels, and identify insights to understand their customer and fulfil expectations even before these are expressed. They ‘listen’ to their customers and apply AI-based tools to make sense of the data and use it for personalised messaging to customers.
Architect your business for change
A Cognitive Enterprise conceptualises a blueprint to define its structure and operations while accommodating continuous change. Thereby, organisations should focus on planned growth and position their business to maximise the use of emerging technologies.
Companies can no longer afford to take a wait-and-see approach to determine what works for others in their industry, or which technology or service is going to 'win'. Enterprise architecture – like business strategy – must anticipate the future but also keep its options open.
Agility and adapting fast
Cognitive Enterprises should be able to think and deliver fast. They are open to learning and have the courage to change direction on the basis of what they learn. Business platforms supporting well-integrated and cognitively-enabled workflows are becoming the ideal habitat for agile leaders and teams.
Humanised workflows around AI
Companies are increasingly relying on AI and exponential technologies to direct their actions and provide humanised experiences to customers. They deploy AI to augment employee decisions, help them interpret what customers want, and interact with customers in ways that builds trust.
Trust and security
These two parameters are critical to a Cognitive Enterprise. To earn the trust of customers and utilise their personal data, companies should reduce the vulnerability of single players across their IT ecosystem, by leveraging AI and machine learning capabilities on business platforms, especially those that interoperate with other platforms.
Develop and leverage a robust security toolkit to stay ahead of malicious actors equipped with advanced technologies. This includes conducting rapid and continuous testing with working code implementations informed by up-to-date data on recent attacks and defences.
Ignite talent
The key to driving DX is your people. But it can be difficult for companies to find skilled workforce familiar with cognitive technologies, as every company is looking for professionals from a limited talent pool. Under such circumstances, companies should apply AI tools to their HR workflows and gain insights into what skills they really need now and in the future, to determine how the demand can be met. Companies can also use AI tools to identify talent within the organisation and enable peer-to-peer learning.
The extent you enable your company’s digital transformation depends on the extent you implement these seven steps in your enterprise. The DX journey involves the entire organisation becoming agile and capable of taking advantage of digital tools and technologies, whether to optimise the supply chain, offer customer quicker deliveries, or enable stakeholders to quickly connect with your organisation.
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