EDITOR’S LETTER

Say Hello to Illuminar, THE DIGITAL ENTERPRISE DIGEST

I hope you are having a great holiday season. As the year ends, it is time for some reflection and anticipation of new beginnings. As a famous saying goes, “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot”. In 2015, enterprises have realized that digital is everyone’s business. What started off as relevant largely for the CMO organization with emphasis on customer experience, spread to other business processes as well. In line with the year of the Sheep, enterprises focused on taking a calmer and deeper approach to what digital really means to their business.

Board room discussions were focused on investing in digital not only to provide better customer value, but also for more tactical yet important initiatives relating to cost reduction, lower risks and better corporate governance. Initiatives such as Mobile, Social, Analytics, Cloud and Internet of Things were considered in the context of such board room discussions and not just as siloes projects by the IT organization.

Some trends that really stood out more than others include:

• Rise of the on-demand economy: “Uber for X” – from insurance, banking, legal, electronics, books to consumer products – you name it, instant gratification was fueled with the investment in digital. Its all about “now” – faster, cheaper, better were keywords in enterprises. Everything is available as an application. Enterprises started to think of building faster “cars” vs. building faster “horses”.
• Rise of the digital ecosystem: The year 2015 saw an immense rise in the digital ecosystem possibilities. Pioneering enterprises build a framework for a digital business by building digital ecosystems to shape customer experiences, enter new markets and shape customer outcomes like never before. From retailers to automotive and consumer electronics, enterprises like Fiat, Home Depot and Philips created new business models including connected cars, home and healthcare, by building a collaborative ecosystem.
• Focus on strategy, people and processes: Digital initiatives were considered from a strategic perspective together with its impact on people and processes. Technology though an important factor, was not the only prime consideration. Consider how McDonalds integrated digital to have their entire organization work in newer ways – with the 2015 Super Bowl football championship. Enterprises re-examined their business models to understand how they should compete in the market place, engage with customers and create quick turnaround across internal business processes.
• Broad impact of digital across operational processes: Digital transformed internal operational processes like never before. The first seeds were sown with AI powering the world’s first hotel Henn na staffed by humanoid robots in Japan. Large Shared service organizations invested in digital focusing on delivering superior customer experiences. Knowledge sharing, collaboration and greater transparency were increasingly facilitated by digital.
• Data is the new currency: Enterprises invested in digital to leverage the value of data and insights to have early visibility and make quicker decisions. Enterprises enhanced their ability to manage unstructured content, connect employees, draw insights from big data and forecast rapidly changing demands and market expectations.
• Real time data analytics: There is a complete shift in the way analytics is being employed at organizations. Businesses have begun to realize the power of real time analytics in providing faster access to operational and customer data that can then enable them to innovate and sustain their competitive edge. Newer techniques and analytical tools that are available today help derive deeper and more meaningful insights from the volumes of data available. Analytics will also drive better customer experiences and enable organizations to personalize their services, products, marketing strategies to derive not only more sales/ROI but also customer loyalty.
• Social Media: Brands are largely turning to social media channels and networks to enrich, differentiate and improve brand reputation by increasing interacting with the consumers and connecting with them directly, brands will rely on social media to enrich, differentiate and improve brand reputation.

The year 2015 saw enterprises move from the initial exploration stage to investing in laying a strategy, piloting and investing in skills and capabilities for their digital initiatives. There was a varying sense of urgency for digital adoption across geographies – with companies in North America having a greater focus vs companies in parts of Western Europe or Asia.

2016 is going to be interesting as enterprises consolidate their various digital initiatives to create a digital vision and deliver customer and shareholder value. Businesses need to make a concerted effort to integrate the various digital initiatives across its enterprise and begin to take concrete steps towards making digital transformation at the center of their corporate strategy. It will become vital to create a clear digital vision that would enable businesses to deliver revenue-generating digital experiences, which will be a key factor to ensure ROI is achieved. The leadership and management need to make sure that the digital strategy and vision that is conceived is well communicated within the organization so that it can be executed rightly.

I wish you all success, health and happiness. Thank you for your encouragement and support.

Best Regards,
Srividya Kannan,
Editor, Illuminar
editorials@avaali.com