The global and independent platform for the SAP community.

Disruption: the train does not stop

Disruption through technology will displace four out of ten companies within the next few years. This is not a gloomy vision of the future, but a bitter reality. Waiting, persisting or ignoring are not options if you want to be competitive.
Alexander Neuhausen, Diva-E
21 December 2017
Disruption: the train does not stop
avatar
This text has been automatically translated from German to English.

More and more companies, whether in B2C or B2B, are facing the challenges of digitization. At the heart of this is the question of how they can profitably exploit the countless opportunities that digital technologies open up.

The goal should be to leave a digital footprint that is necessary for growth, competitiveness and the enthusiasm of the company's own employees and users.

Determine the digital maturity level

Modern organizations rely on a trial and error approach, as there is no one-fits-all solution: Each company must develop its own individual roadmap. To do this, the first step should be to conduct an external and internal positioning exercise in order to derive the strategic cornerstones and develop a digital roadmap.

Companies can determine their level of digital maturity with the help of classic models such as the Swot analysis or the Digital Maturity Model (DM3). Extensive questionnaires and interviews with executives and specialists in the company enable the functional areas of strategy, marketing, sales, service, product, innovation management, IT and HR to be comprehensively examined. Companies should ask themselves the following questions as part of the digital site assessment:

Do I have the necessary know-how to react flexibly to customers?

Companies are working to concretize their target group definitions. This allows them to provide exactly the right digital topics for their personas. They are also willing to experiment and take risks in implementing new ideas to generate added value for customers.

Rigid organizational and project structures represent a potential risk here. What is needed instead is flexibility and an unconditional understanding of new, alternative and even uncomfortable ways of behaving. Companies have banished the statement "We've always done it this way" from their own vernacular.

In addition, they are aware of the influence of digitization, which is why the management has this topic on the agenda - which not least leads to the company offering prospects and customers a consistent, personalized customer experience. In addition, training and further education are just as important as an internal exchange of knowledge.

Disruption, digitalization,

Have I implemented the necessary processes?

The processes are not only digitally supported, but also planned and coordinated across departments. To measure success, companies have defined relevant KPIs and established metrics so that they can implement improvements in the short term.

Are my technologies suitable for my digitization strategy?

The technologies used optimally support digital business models and end-to-end business processes without media breaks for the stakeholders involved. This enables extensive analysis of customer data and behavior. The results of the analyses are directly available to all relevant company departments and can influence business-critical decisions.

Can I stream my content across all channels?

Open Data Spaces give all employees access to corporate data (e.g., product data) so that new innovations can be implemented without delay. The company's range of products and services can be found not only via traditional sales channels, but also online. In addition, the process around the creation, enrichment and management of information is software-supported and firmly defined.

avatar
Alexander Neuhausen, Diva-E

Alexander Neuhausen is Principal Analyst and Business Consultant at Diva-E Digital Value Enterprise.


Write a comment

Working on the SAP basis is crucial for successful S/4 conversion. 

This gives the Competence Center strategic importance for existing SAP customers. Regardless of the S/4 Hana operating model, topics such as Automation, Monitoring, Security, Application Lifecycle Management and Data Management the basis for S/4 operations.

For the second time, E3 magazine is organizing a summit for the SAP community in Salzburg to provide comprehensive information on all aspects of S/4 Hana groundwork. All information about the event can be found here:

SAP Competence Center Summit 2024

Venue

Event Room, FourSide Hotel Salzburg,
At the exhibition center 2,
A-5020 Salzburg

Event date

June 5 and 6, 2024

Regular ticket:

€ 590 excl. VAT

Venue

Event Room, Hotel Hilton Heidelberg,
Kurfürstenanlage 1,
69115 Heidelberg

Event date

28 and 29 February 2024

Tickets

Regular ticket
EUR 590 excl. VAT
The organizer is the E3 magazine of the publishing house B4Bmedia.net AG. The presentations will be accompanied by an exhibition of selected SAP partners. The ticket price includes the attendance of all lectures of the Steampunk and BTP Summit 2024, the visit of the exhibition area, the participation in the evening event as well as the catering during the official program. The lecture program and the list of exhibitors and sponsors (SAP partners) will be published on this website in due time.