With many choices in front of you, the subject of Digital Transformation can be daunting. When considering the associated costs involved, making the right choices in the current economic climate is of paramount importance.
The first and best step you can take is to select a System Integrator (SI) with the correct philosophy, skillset, and partners to consult on your needs and identify your most significant opportunities for future growth and continual improvement.
At its core, the correct course of action when selecting and deploying technology is to deliver on an immediate need while opening the potential for future gains in a controlled, low-risk way. This route to digital transformation ensures the creation and maintenance of momentum while avoiding a challenging leap forward which can unleash a host of problems.
That is not to say digital transformation must be a slow process; instead, an experienced system integrator can define the correct pace, technology, and requirements for new capabilities to develop an expertly tailored plan for your operation.
So, what is digital transformation, and what impact does the right system integrator have? Simply put, Digital Transformation is the adoption of technology to digitise processes, operations, or functions. And system integrators, when fulfilling their role to their maximum, provide a route to continuous improvements that keep pace with a competitive industry.
System integrators must consider several factors when embarking on a digital transformation journey with a customer. The first is aligning with the values and aims of the business. While this might sound like a lofty starting point, system integrators can ensure that the capabilities of the selected solutions will serve the organisation’s core interests by beginning the process in this way.
The next step is to understand the project’s ambitions, identify opportunities for cost savings, add additional value, and build the foundations for an extensible, supportable future for the operation.
Extensibility and compatibility are key considerations when embarking on your digital transformation journey. The divide between IT and OT is blurring and is a trend that will only continue in a more homogenous direction in the future. While many solutions are generally within the IT domain, appointing a system integrator with significant experience in OT is becoming increasingly vital. By understanding the intricacies of IT-compliant OT, you can extract the total value of digitisation and build a lasting foundation that extends the lifecycle and ROI of assets and software solutions.
Once a solution has been implemented, and you’ve reaped the immediate rewards, the next set of decisions become apparent. You need not lose contact with your system integrator; the relationship can be ongoing to support continual improvement. One avenue for this approach is through support and maintenance contracts, which provide 24/7 access to expert help to ensure your operation works optimally with minimum downtime.
While Digital Transformation is a broad topic, with the right collaborator, you can decide upon and execute a path for your journey that retains and enhances your operation’s unique values and vision.