Departmental disconnect is hindering digital plans

Progress with data will always be difficult until 'all are singing from the same hymnsheet', warns David Armstrong

For quite some time now, digital transformation has been at front of mind for nearly all organisations. But what does it actually mean for businesses? And what technologies are going to have the biggest impact on organisations in the future?

It would appear that not all organisations are clear on the answers to these questions. In fact, a report by Wipro Digital found that one in four executives believe there is a lack of knowledge as to what the term, ‘digital transformation' actually means and this, they say, is an obstacle to the company's success.

What's more, recently conducted research by OpenText found that even IT teams and business unit leaders can't reach an agreement on what future technologies would have the biggest impact on their organisations. And this could be hindering future digital transformation plans.

Departmental disconnect

While both IT teams and business unit leaders were in agreement that big data will have the biggest impact on their organisation in the next five years, we found significant differences in opinion when it came to deciding what other technologies will be the biggest disruptors to business by 2022.

Over half of lines of businesses surveyed believe artificial intelligence (AI) will have the biggest impact. Very much the buzzword of 2017, AI has been heralded as the technology to transform businesses - particularly in the area of customer service - and boost a company's competitiveness. Tasks previously carried out by humans can now be done by machines far more efficiently and at less cost.

Yet, despite this, just 30 per cent of IT decision makers see AI has having a big impact on business. They instead see the Internet of Things (IoT) as having a more significant impact, come 2022.

The next generation

Interestingly, IT teams were also more likely to see millennials as having a significant impact on business, with 23 per cent identifying the new generation of workers as a disruptor compared to just 12 per cent of business unit leaders.

IT teams are right to regard millennials as a key factor in transforming how businesses run in the next five years. Millennials are radically changing the nature of work and the enterprise will have to cater for this digital first generation as they enter the workplace. It will have to rethink its organisational structure, its IT infrastructure and its approach to retaining this workforce.

As the millennials enter the workforce, the machines will follow. AI and machine learning are only becoming more powerful. For businesses, understanding cognitive systems, big data analytics, machine learning and AI - and how to leverage the technology - will be critical for survival.

These technologies will give organisations faster access to insights that empower them to make better, more informed decisions as well as the agility to outpace their competitors. Businesses, therefore, need to address this departmental disconnect and ensure everyone is on the same page in order to progress digital transformation strategies and benefit from these new technologies.

Breaking down barriers

In addition to department disconnect, OpenText also found that data silos continue to be a persistent problem for businesses. Despite, 60 per cent of UK organisations seeing data analysis as a priority for customer insight, closely followed by compliance, over half of those surveyed said having lots of data in many different systems is their biggest challenge for gleaning this insight from data.

Furthermore, when asked what analytics capabilities are available to senior decision makers in their company, the majority of respondents said they had access to basic reports and spreadsheets (76 per cent) and static dashboards and visualisations (68 per cent). However, just 37 per cent said they have access to more sophisticated, mature data analysis tools such as algorithm-based predictions and forecasting.

In today's digital world, employing some form of basic analytics can be helpful in discovering what has happened and why. But, often, they lack the sophistication that allows companies to understand what will happen, and what they should do next. This level of insight comes from more powerful predictive analytics.

Businesses, therefore, need break down data silos to not only better organise structured and unstructured information, but also make it accessible across the enterprise. Only then can businesses extract and leverage its data's value to better understand its customers and make smarter, faster decisions.

Staying ahead of the competition

Today, there is so much data out there for companies to tap into - and it's only going to continue growing as new technologies are adopted by businesses. But this data is worthless unless it is transformed into information. Established organisations that make the most of the information will gain the necessary insights to stay ahead of the competition in the digital-first world.

But it's also important to note that businesses should not go digital for digital's sake. There needs to be a carefully thought out strategy - one in which all departments agree on - to understand where it can yield the best results for the organisations. Only then can organisations fully embrace the benefits of data.

David Armstrong is VP analytics at OpenText