The 3rd Platform, built on cloud, mobility, big data and analytics, social business, and innovation accelerators, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing, robotics, and cognitive computing, are changing how manufacturers can acquire and apply knowledge.
New technologies can provide unprecedented computing capabilities and unlimited avenues to access information and knowledge as the information itself becomes even more valuable.
To help organisations successfully weather and capitalise on this information transformation, IDC Manufacturing Insights has unveiled a new report, “IDC MatutiryScape: Information Digital Transformation in Manufacturing”.
The new report provides a framework for identifying the stages, critical measures, outcomes, and actions required for IT organisations to effectively evolve to information transformation as a critical enabler of digital transformation for their enterprise.
Information transformation is a critical component of manufacturers’ overall digital business transformation. In the new report, IDC Manufacturing Insights recommends that manufacturers act quickly to capitalise on the value of information that is and will become available to them.
The report also advises embedding intelligence on how manufacturers manage their operations and deliver their products and services. Leaders in information transformation will treat data and information as they would any critical business asset — with investments in people, processes, and technologies that acknowledge information’s strategic importance, in addition to solidifying a road map to maximize information’s contribution to the business’ success.
The most advanced companies can accelerate the pace of sophisticated analysis, the mix of data and data types, and the ability to optimize and predict business decisions.
According to Kimberly Knickly, vice-president of IDC Manufacturing Insights, IT Priorities and Strategies: “To gain competitive advantage and become increasingly customer centric, manufacturers must adapt their classic data management approaches to master a differentiated information value chain.”
IDC recommends leaders focus on the following dimensions and their sub-dimensions when evaluating their information transformation maturity:
* Data discovery. Acquisition and preparation, exploration, visualisation, and datafication.
* Value development. Analytics, algorithms, program management, and quality.
* Value realisation. Monetization, productisation, real-time orchestration, and service innovation.
* Knowledge and collaboration. Work virtualisation, knowledge and integration, governance, and risk.
* Information architecture. Data management and enterprise information model, integration and synchronisation, IA services, and security.
“Manufacturers are investing in some of the tools they will need to leverage information and knowledge as critical business assets. But to yield the greatest benefits, manufacturers must do more than just invest in tools; they must undergo an information transformation. Our new IDC MaturityScape offers senior leaders a framework to assess their enterprise challenges and create a sound information transformation strategy,” Knickle says.
IDC Manufacturing Insights notes that the promise of information transformation seems so large that it’s tempting to attack on every front and hope to have some success by the rule of numbers.
However, in this case, doing everything at once is not the appropriate way. Having a game plan to achieve some initial success or risk modest failure, learn from either scenario, and then expand, is far more likely to deliver sustainable success.