The best way to get started in digitalization

Ever since the word “digitalization” became popularized in the media, more and more companies have been taking an interest in the subject. First off, it’s important that we start with the definition. What does this term actually mean? Many companies believe that introducing a new IT system already counts as a digitalization initiative. While a modern IT infrastructure certainly is crucial to data security and process optimization, we think digitalization is a bit more than that. For most sectors, digitalization signifies fundamentally transforming the business processes with an eye towards developing a service-oriented economy. So we’re shifting focus from the physical product itself to the services based on that product.

Every digitalization project should therefore start with detailed stock-taking. One way to do that is to use our Digital Maturity Check. This tool assesses the digital status quo of a company in the following nine dimensions:

• Product range
• Core process
• Complementary IT systems
• Cooperation
• Organization
• Corporate strategy
• Supporting processes
• Innovation
• Skills

The results of the Digital Maturity Check provide an excellent launching point for transforming your company into a networked business.

• If you don’t yet have a digital strategy, start by defining a vision.
• If you’re lacking product innovations for digital services and products, innovation technologies like Design Thinking are available to help you develop them.
• If the check reveals weaknesses in your IT infrastructure or IT systems, these issues can be addressed with new systems.

Once you’ve established the starting points for your first digitalization projects, you can go about drawing up and scheduling the individual actions in a Digital Roadmap. After that, you can start implementing the individual projects. Depending on the scope, it might make sense to use dedicated Change Management resources to help ensure long-term project success.