The following is a “Tale of Three Companies” in which I had personal experience leading/managing their outsourcing efforts at some level. In this tale, I offer an overview of key areas and some observations concerning those three experiences and then provide a brief conclusion.

It is evident that traditional process- and workflow-oriented leadership styles are not enough to make organizations successful in their digital transformation journey. Digital leaders should have an entrepreneurial mindset, believe in collaboration, and exhibit the qualities of an adventurer. Below are the key differentiating qualities that digital leadership should have to carry out digital transformation and operations successfully.

Organizational change management is about changing the way that people think and behave — in that order. Unfortunately, change management programs that are begun after the digital transformation has been designed focus primarily on behavioral change. They neglect to engage people in changing their mindset and way of thinking. Any behavioral change that is not preceded by a change in thinking will not last. As soon as the pressure is off, as soon as managers turn their backs, people will revert to the way they’ve always done things. And the way they’ve always done things is ­continually reinforced by the organizational culture.

In a recent Cutter Webinar, “Cognitive Digital Transformation: The Next Wave,” Cutter Senior Consultant Paul Harmon considered the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) and cognitive technologies in all aspects of business. He argued that cognitive technologies will simply extend the ongoing digital transformation of today’s enterprises, requiring them to reconsider their business models and understand fully why they will need to incorporate intelligent elements to remain competitive. Paul’s webinar concluded with a lively Q&A session. In this Executive Update, we highlight some of his thoughtful responses.

Digital transformation is a journey of creating and combining specific business capabilities so that they give organizations a competitive advantage in the digital excellence domains in a way that reflects their chosen mix of strategic options. This journey is shaped also by the availability of critical resources — data, analytical skills, technology proficiency. It is very often seriously affected by the state of business and IT architecture, the style of integration, and data quality. It seems wise to focus on domains of excellence where the resources are available or can be relatively easily developed or acquired.

Data-centric protection and security focuses on the organization's sensitive data as opposed to its overall computer networks and applications, as is the case with the more traditional IT security models that typically operate by implementing a well-defended security perimeter designed to keep bad actors out. This is accomplished by locating, identifying, and cataloging sensitive data as well as by applying encryption, data masking, and policy-based data access controls (and end-user monitoring) to protect data residing across multiple enterprise environments. But to what extent are organizations adopting, or planning to adopt, data-centric protection and security practices?

This Executive Update describes six leadership strategies essential to successful Lean-Agile transformation, together with one bonus strategy (the “+1”). All seven strategies describe patterns observed across a range of organizations in the public and private sectors. They and their accompanying pitfalls highlight the need for a number of specific leadership behaviors.

In today’s global socioeconomic landscape, with its multitude of varied and disruptive technological innovations, business organizations are forced to quickly respond and evolve. Continuous business transformation is the new normal. Business executives are expected to make informed and leading decisions against a dynamic business transformation baseline. In such an environment, quantifying the business operation’s effectiveness is a challenge and becomes particularly important when many critical operational decisions demand hard evidence. This is where the doctrine of information superiority comes into play. 

This wave of digitization is fundamentally rewriting the rules of competition across industries: the charac­teristics that made firms successful in the past are not the same characteristics that distinguish winners from losers in the digital era. One of these fundamental changes is the steadily increasing importance of innovation and continuous improvement. Research shows that the more digital an industry becomes, the more rapid the speed of change in the industry. There is no such thing as a sustained competitive advantage in the digital era. However, digitization does not only create challenges for actors in affected industries. Digitization in itself also provides the keys to tackling the changing competitive dynamics. Because most firms still do not leverage the opportunities, the quickest ones to learn how to exploit them will be the ones that come out on top. 

This wave of digitization is fundamentally rewriting the rules of competition across industries: the charac­teristics that made firms successful in the past are not the same characteristics that distinguish winners from losers in the digital era. One of these fundamental changes is the steadily increasing importance of innovation and continuous improvement. Research shows that the more digital an industry becomes, the more rapid the speed of change in the industry. There is no such thing as a sustained competitive advantage in the digital era. However, digitization does not only create challenges for actors in affected industries. Digitization in itself also provides the keys to tackling the changing competitive dynamics. Because most firms still do not leverage the opportunities, the quickest ones to learn how to exploit them will be the ones that come out on top. 

The business value of consumer analytics and big data is not just about what you can discover or infer about the consumer, but how you can use this insight promptly and effectively across multiple touchpoints (including e-commerce systems and CRM) to create a powerful and truly personalized consumer experience. In this article, I will explore how the concept of information superiority interacts with the concept of customer centricity. I will look at three modes of information superiority: conventional, adaptive, and collaborative. 

The business value of consumer analytics and big data is not just about what you can discover or infer about the consumer, but how you can use this insight promptly and effectively across multiple touchpoints (including e-commerce systems and CRM) to create a powerful and truly personalized consumer experience. In this article, I will explore how the concept of information superiority interacts with the concept of customer centricity. I will look at three modes of information superiority: conventional, adaptive, and collaborative. 

“Digital capital” is a newer phrase and a newer concept. Obviously, it includes tangible assets like hardware and software that show up on balance sheets, but in today’s environment, it can and should include so much more — if not explicitly on a GAAP-approved balance sheet, then at least in how we think about investments. I would suggest that information be cited very explicitly as digital capital, but not just any information. 

“Digital capital” is a newer phrase and a newer concept. Obviously, it includes tangible assets like hardware and software that show up on balance sheets, but in today’s environment, it can and should include so much more — if not explicitly on a GAAP-approved balance sheet, then at least in how we think about investments. I would suggest that information be cited very explicitly as digital capital, but not just any information. 

It is a common belief that big data and real-time data analytics help organizations to improve their compet­itiveness. Indeed, studies and publications tend to present examples of successful application of big data technologies in companies. There is much less emphasis on companies that have encountered difficulties in adapting big data solutions. The goal of this article is to identify the necessary conditions for gaining business value from data. I argue that neither data itself nor advanced analytical tools produce meaningful value. The key issue is to connect data analysis with a specific business context and to do it quickly. I conclude the article with a model that identifies the big data capa­bilities needed to achieve this goal.

In this issue of Cutter Business Technology Journal, we have asked our authors to share their thoughts related to two concepts: information superiority and digital capital. Our assumption was that these concepts are particularly relevant to business leaders, who are right to believe that “digital” and “hypercompetition” are the “new normal” in business. 

In this issue of Cutter Business Technology Journal, we have asked our authors to share their thoughts related to two concepts: information superiority and digital capital. Our assumption was that these concepts are particularly relevant to business leaders, who are right to believe that “digital” and “hypercompetition” are the “new normal” in business. 

In this Executive Update, we examine how three different IT groups used data virtualization for purposes other than supporting user queries to deliver significant benefits to their organizations.

Traditional banks, big tech firms, and new fintech startup ventures are the three major players that together will help shape the new financial services landscape. Are they all going to compete? Not necessarily! We are already seeing the first forms of collaboration between these different players materialize.

One major obstacle to business agility and innovation is technology debt (TD). TD obstacles manifest themselves as non-IT executives complain that “we can’t launch this new product/service as our IT systems will not allow us to.” From an IT standpoint, the inability of existing IT systems to support the proposed new product/service launch is a result of past technology “workarounds” that were implemented to meet an accelerated timeline or reduced budget.

In this on-demand webinar, you'll discover the strategic and tactical opportunities made possible by Digital Data Streams and the opportunities for improved customer experience made possible by DDS.

In this on-demand webinar, you'll discover the strategic and tactical opportunities made possible by Digital Data Streams and the opportunities for improved customer experience made possible by DDS.

Broadly, there are two facets to the people architecture. One facet is the desire to imagine; to make things better, to exploit new ways and technologies, to renew and replace the old. The other is grounded in the reality of the things, the people, and the ways of doing that took years to get to where they are today, with all their intricacies and nuances: the rust. But it is in the space between the imagination and the rust that things either turn to dust or get forged into what they must.

Digital transformation needs a robust platform that binds the systems of records and integration with the systems of innovation. This digital platform that sits at the cusp of integration and innovation provides the ability to bind the core processes with the new digital processes in order to allow building of new channel applications.

There are a lot of use cases for blockchain technology, and the business case for each needs to be developed. A lot of companies exist with a blockchain solution for a problem that does not exist — essentially a hammer searching for a nail. The use cases outlined in this Advisor have common benefits focused on simplifying existing relationships, reducing fraud, and improving the speed of commerce.