Non-disruptive EIM
Digital transformation is less a technical process than an adaptation of business processes. Comprehensive digitization is the prerequisite for communication without media disruption.
The core components of Industrie 4.0 are IoT (Internet of Things and Services) and M2M (machine-to-machine communication).
The same applies to enterprise information management (EIM). Digitization does not mean converting paper into electronic documents, but rather creating the possibility for networked and collaborative communication of digital information - an adapted M2M for documents and archives.
The goal is a standardization and automation effect for EIM.
The Innovator's Dilemma
Disruptive or not disruptive? This question is on the minds not only of the early adopters of Hana and SAP S/4, but of the entire IT scene.
"When a company tries to develop a disruptive technology to the point where it meets the needs of customers in established markets - which most leading companies do - its failure is all but certain"
says Harvard professor Clayton M. Christensen in the German-language edition of his classic book "The innovator's dilemma" on page 234.
Does digitization always mean a radical change in use and business cases that are inevitably disruptive?
"What matters most about the issue is that companies need to start digitizing now"
explains OpenText manager Roger Illing.
"The larger the companies are, the more urgent. Because then the proportion of legacy information is correspondingly greater, and with it the fundamental need for integration in order to operate process-oriented information management.
It must be clear to companies that it will definitely pay off. After all, there is still a lot of automation and productivity potential lying fallow."
The digitization of the economy, which was addressed at this year's CeBIT under the key theme of d!conomy, absolutely requires the digitization of business processes in the company.
d!conomy and EIM
More than one in three SMEs across all sectors is already using ECM (enterprise content management) solutions, according to a study commissioned by Bitkom, for which a total of 805 companies with 20 to 499 employees were surveyed.
Of the companies with 100 or more employees, around one in two already uses ECM. The majority of companies use ECM solutions for document management (60 percent) and archiving (54 percent), more than one in three companies (39 percent) uses them for invoice processing, and one in four (26 percent) for e-mail management.
ECM is used less frequently for knowledge management (14 percent) or for team collaboration (13 percent). ECM is more than just document management.
"Companies that recognize this and design their processes accordingly have a clear advantage over their competitors"
says Jürgen Biffar, CEO of the ECM competence area at Bitkom.
These advantages apply even more to the companies served by SAP and OpenText. Only complete digitization on an ERP/CRM platform in conjunction with EIM creates the necessary added value.
DMS, ECM and EIM
This means that the non-disruptive path of a digital transformation is not only predefined, but leads far beyond the classic areas of DMS (Document Management System) and ECM (Enterprise Content Management) - to Enterprise Information Management (EIM). It is the processes and workflows of digitization that support and promote the core competence of a company.
"Take BMW. This industry icon now sees itself not just as a carmaker, but as a provider of mobility."
iDrive and DriveNow are just two examples. End customers make direct contact with the manufacturer via their mobile devices or their vehicles and exchange data. BMW in turn uses this data to optimize and expand its mobility offering. For the communications infrastructure, the cloud is the tool of choice here.
Cloud computing
How are digitization and the cloud related?
"We have traditionally had highly integrated vertical value chains in Central Europe in the form of industrial clusters and a close relationship with trade"
Roger Illing knows from his professional experience.
"The more and the more end-to-end these cross-enterprise value chains become digitized, the more companies will rely on cloud infrastructures.
The cloud as a technology is a business enabler - in new German terms - because it creates the conditions for making digital business models a reality."
Value chains have also existed in industry and commerce in the past. Why is traditional technology like EDI no longer enough?
"No, that would no longer suffice today. On the one hand, EDI is usually limited to the exchange of data. For another, such systems are costly to maintain and implement.
Third, however, EDI is designed for exchanges between companies"
says Illing.
"In the future, however, it will also be a question of the fast and flexible exchange of documents, images, audio and video files, etc., all the way along the supply chain to the end customer.
The cloud is simply faster and more flexible here."
Supply Chain and Trading Grid
Digital supply chains and communication without media breaks seem to become the success factor for future use and business cases: Schneider Electric expanded its collaboration with OpenText this year and will use managed services as the basis for its global supply chain platform in the future.
"Schneider Electric needs a reliable partner that has a platform for B2B workflow management in the cloud and is also able to support us in our global operations"
comments Philippe Azoulay, Director IT Supply Chain at Schneider Electric.
"OpenText is the right partner. The company was able to convince us of an extended cooperation with its experience in connection with B2B integrations and a high quality of service."
The supply chain platform used by the entire Schneider Electric group allows for a global exchange of information between B2B logistics service providers.
The managed services solution is used in addition to the already implemented OpenText Process Suite. This enables Schneider Electric to define appropriate business process standards for all logistics service providers and business applications.
"The big challenge is to scale the solution to enable the exchange of data across more than a hundred information systems under time-critical conditions"
Azoulay explains.
"With OpenText, we will simplify and accelerate the implementation and deployment of integration services. This will enable our logistics service providers to share information globally and securely, while reducing total cost of ownership."
OpenText Managed Services leverage the OpenText Trading Grid. This is a cloud-based B2B integration solution that enables business partners to connect quickly, securely and efficiently.
OpenText Trading Grid is highly scalable and can manage the digital enterprise network of an entire multinational B2B environment as well as be deployed for a number of smaller projects, regions or trading partner relationships.
Digitization Workshop
"We have launched a workshop program for digitization. As part of this, we pass on our experience to the participants."
Roger Illing explains his assistance for existing SAP customers who are looking for the right entry into the digital, non-disruptive transformation process.
"To do that, we ideally lock in with the entire management team and department heads for two days to come up with ideas that might fit the specific company.
The two most important lessons we can learn from this are: Digitalization makes it possible to learn from business models outside the industry and possibly transfer them. Second, the boundaries within the supply chain are disappearing.
In the future, manufacturers will have disproportionately more direct access to customer wishes and needs than before. Third, parts of the value chain can be relocated and brought closer to the customer."
And of course Roger Illing can bring an example of this:
"You are not buying a smartphone, you are buying communications. Therefore, the device is the subsidized part of your mobile contract. Why not transfer this model to other consumer goods? Couldn't electricity providers evolve into energy managers?
Customer contracts could then include subsidies for typical electricity-consuming household appliances such as lamps, refrigerators or washing machines. Then you are no longer buying appliances or electricity, but the most efficient household operation possible.
Or why continue to produce shoes in stock and put them on the shelf instead of just producing them in the store to your own specifications - model, color, shape - using 3D printing?"
EIM: Digital Change Management
Digital supply chains, M2M and 3D printers will radically change the role of commerce, E-3 Editor-in-Chief Peter Färbinger asked OpenText Manager Roger Illing:
"You are absolutely right. Retailers would have to play a role that is even more oriented toward providing advice. To stay with the example of household appliances:
The salesperson would pick out suitable rates from electricity providers and initiate the conclusion of the contract. And the employees of the shoe outlet would display their talent as style consultants."
These new use and business cases would also address the issues of liability and documentation?
"That's exactly how it is"
says Illing.
- Was the quality control of the shoe produced in the store fully documented, was the shoe photographed so that claims for exchange due to alleged production damage can be excluded?
- Were the conditions under which the energy contract was concluded really the final ones?
- Who documents this in a legally secure manner?
- Who guarantees that customer advisors in retail always have access to the relevant systems at the manufacturer in order to perform their tasks?
Roger Illing's statement:
"The answers lie in the design of the IT environments behind them. The questions can only be answered if the processes underlying the business models are fully digitized.
If a shoe manufacturer has to take photos of every pair of shoes produced, he needs a digital asset management solution. He must ensure that the photos are assigned to the correct customer file and that the shoe retailer, and possibly also the customer, can access this file directly in the sense of self-service should follow-up and queries arise.
So companies need end-to-end information management that is process-oriented, not underlying systems-oriented."
Non-disruptive E2E with EIM
The examples we have just discussed have several things in common, says Roger Illing: they are cross-company and extend to the end customer. The processes have to work always and immediately.
Where which information is located at the system level is irrelevant from the user's and customer's point of view. But above all: the processes must be fast.
"It should not take two days to assign a product photo to the correct file if the complaint is made just one day after purchase"
the OpenText manager defines the future requirements for a futuristic trading system. And if the customer contacts the shoe manufacturer instead of the retailer, it must not be the case that the customer service representative first has to call the store to familiarize himself with the specific case.
"All of this is only possible through process-oriented information management across the supply chain that automates many tasks"
Roger Illing explains.
No pain, no gain: Digital uses and business cases must be financed and ensure ROI through their added value. In parts of industry, around ten percent of the price of plant and machinery is earmarked for the subsequent processing of claims.
"If you use just a portion of this revenue to digitize damage documentation, actively manage the processes for this with appropriate software, and further develop your service in the direction of predictive maintenance through the intelligent analysis of maintenance reports - we call this content analytics - you will decisively improve your competitive position."
Roger Illing is firmly convinced.
What is possible with content analytics is clearly demonstrated by the World Health Organization:
"It uses our solution to analyze web content around the world, thereby providing clues to epidemics"
Illing explains.
Every major automotive manufacturer generates billions of barcode stickers during production, which have to be affixed at various points. No mistake must be made in the process.
The more order-related production becomes, the more complex this process and, in particular, error prevention is.
"Using output management and digital asset management, you can again greatly reduce this effort"
Illing knows from numerous references.
The worker is then shown a picture of each label and where to apply it. And since the label is linked to the order in the system, it is also the correct one.
"Insurance would be another example"
says Illing.
"Many contracts, especially the older ones, continue to be here as nonsearchable image files. It is tedious for a clerk to work his way to specific contract terms.
If these documents were made accessible to an intelligent full-text search and the processes were controlled with BPM software, companies could save a lot of time and money."
Value chains
For many people, receiving their cell phone bill in their e-mail inbox and accessing their bank statement on the Internet is an everyday occurrence. Almost one in four Internet users (23 percent) prefer the electronic form to the paper version for personal documents. This is the result of a representative survey commissioned by the digital association Bitkom.
By comparison, the figure was only 15 percent in 2013.
"Digital files can be easily managed and quickly retrieved"
says Jürgen Biffar, Bitkom board chairman of the ECM competence area.
And OpenText manager Roger Illing knows that the transformation triggered by digitization opens up opportunities for everyone involved in value creation. It is true that digitization is leading to a shortening of value chains.
Amazon's self-publishing approach is a good example that can also be transferred to other industries. This poses new challenges for suppliers and intermediaries: they could evolve into supply chain experts, for example.
"But they can only supply their customers with exactly the parts and products they need if they automate their ordering processes as much as possible using software. Only then are they fast and flexible enough.
Roger Illing defines in conclusion.
