Kathy Gibson at Fujitsu Forum, Munich – There can be no doubt that digitalisation is having a huge impact on the world — but companies are finding the gap between strategy and implementation hard to bridge.
This is the word from Duncan Tait, corporate executive officer: senior executive vice-president and head of Americas and EMEIA at Fujitsu, who says: “Digitalisation is blurring business boundaries.”
Digitalisation is taking business away from traditional market leaders, he adds. It is enabling the era of mass customisation. “And the rise of intelligence is having a fundamental impact.”
As the world gets more connected, with more and more data, we are just at the start of the digital revolution, Tait adds.
“The changes are already profound — but we haven’t seen anything yet.”
IT providers are having to consistently innovate and bring new ideas to market, he adds.
“We have to understand our customers from a business perspective, not just a technology perspective — and we have to do it at speed.”
Digital co-creation is Fujitsu’s concept of bringing together its technology and expertise with unique customer know-how to provide solutions that meet customers’ real business challenges.
To get a sense of where customers really are in their quest to change their businesses, Fujitsu asked 1 625 business and IT decision-makers about the execution of their digital strategies.
“We wanted to know what keeps our customers awake at night,” Tait explains.
The results are staggering: one in four organisations have experienced a failed digitalisation project — and 33% of companies have cancelled digitalisation projects in the last two years.
However, their customers want to engage with them in a digital way, with 84% of companies recognising that they need to make the move.
As failures mount up, 70% of companies feel they are trailing their competition.
A massive 70% of business users believe that shadow IT is still the only path to meaningful innovation, particularly with 70% of organisations facing a digital skills shortage.
In these circumstance, there are four areas that customers should pay attention to: people, action, collaboration and technology (PACT). “It’s like a pact for success,” Tait says.
Organisations that balance these four elements will thrive, he adds.
“Perhaps the most revealing numbers are around the people element. “While 90% of businesses are trying to broaden their digital expertise, it is alarming that almost three-
quarters (70%) of organisations say that there is still a clear lack of digital skills across their organisation.
“Hiring can only go so far towards plugging these gaps in knowledge and while a focus on training and upskilling is to be commended, organisations clearly also need to look at how they make better use of external expertise.”
The fear of failure is marring the success of digital programmes, Tait says. “I believe partnerships and the creation of new ecosystems are essential to providing new insights and new perspectives. They operate at the heart of the digital co-creation process, and open up the possibilities for transformational outcomes.”
Although technology is at the heart of transformation, making the most of digital requires more than the latest tools.
“To realise their digital vision, it’s crucial that businesses have the right skills, processes, partnerships and technology in place,” Tait says. “With digital disruption rapidly changing the business landscape, businesses can’t afford to fail in their transformation.
“We believe co-creation is the way to close this gap.”
