- More than 50 percent of surveyed companies are already today feeling the fundamental change in their business model
- The share of agile structures in companies will triple
- Annual growth in personnel of up to 10 percent is expected because of digitalization
- Cooperation with external service providers, partners, and customers in line with the principle "Make-Buy-Partner" will become more important than ever before.
- The CEO and the CIO, not the chief digital officer (CDO), will continue to bear primary responsibility for digital strategy in the company
Companies must act immediately and become more agile if they are to remain competitive. Doing so demands digitalization competence – but what are companies doing to develop this competence? What is their strategy, who is in charge, and what new structures are required? And does digitalization eliminate jobs in the company, or does it create new ones? Answers to these questions can be found in a study prepared by the management consultancy Detecon in cooperation with the digital association Bitkom. The data for the study was obtained by surveying more than 200 leading IT and business decision-makers in large and midsize companies in German-speaking countries. The empirical study reveals how IT in these enterprises will presumably develop over the course of the next ten years. Taking its findings as the basis, it offers a precise organizational
vision for a digital and agile company and gives concrete recommendations for action to achieve operational implementation.
Digitalization is a matter for the executive suites
More than 50 percent of the survey companies are even today taking the subjects of digitalization and Internet of Things (IoT) into account when developing and implementing their business strategy; only about 20 percent have no plans at all in this field. The resulting relevance is also reflected in the assignment of responsibility: the
overwhelming majority place overall responsibility for planning and implementation of IoT projects on the CEO, just as in the past, and only a partial responsibility on the CIO. So the study refutes the oft-heard speculation about a trend to a separate CDO (chief digital officer) in the company.
More agile structures needed in the company
The study also indicates that while over 80 percent of the respondents regard agile structures to be important or very important for the digitalization of a company, less than 25 percent of their own companies have already begun working in agile structures. A share of no more than between 25 percent and 50 percent is expected in the future. "This is all the more surprising because a more extensive change in the direction of agile principles would have been expected; after all, companies will have to function in two
'operating modes' in the future. They must continue to offer reliable service in their core business while also displaying the customer-centric innovative strength and speed that we see in startups. And that is not possible without agile structures," is the assessment of the study results as described by Carsten Glohr, Managing Partner at Detecon and expert for digitalization strategies. Companies should not limit the establishment of agility to their processes, but extend it purposefully into the structure of the organization by forming networked and cross-department digital teams, advises Detecon.
Greater demand for qualified employees
The study participants do not see IoT as a destroyer of jobs – quite the opposite. The study reveals that automation and digitalization are the impetus behind significant personnel growth in companies, a figure forecast to be as high as 10 percent a year. The search is especially urgent for "digital competence", i.e., personnel who are specialists in digitalization. "Completely new professions such as 'big data analyst' or 'social media manager' are appearing," explains Carsten Glohr. "The fact that just under 88 percent of the companies want to confront the challenge of digitalization primarily by developing this competence within their own companies, i.e., by hiring permanent employees, supports this thesis."
Changes in all business units
It is not really surprising that companies expect the greatest impact of digitalization in the IT departments. Business units such as service, logistics, and production, supported by cloud models and Software-as-a-Service, are clamoring for more and more control over their IT themselves for strategic reasons. This development can currently be observed in the marketing environment with regard to product IT, for example, notes the study. Nevertheless, the respondents consistently advocate maintaining a separate IT unit in the company. "IT will move closer to all of the other business units, but it will not consolidate with them," summarizes Glohr. "That is why it is necessary for the IT departments to develop an understanding for the business and process requirements of the company with a depth similar to that already existing in the business departments."
The complete study entitled "Digitalization and Internet of Things (IoT) – Demands on Agile Organizations" can be downloaded here.
Detecon International GmbH
Detecon is a leading corporate consulting company operating worldwide; for more than 30 years, it has combined classic management consulting with outstanding technological competence. The focus of its activities is on the field of digital transformation. Detecon supports companies from all areas of business as they employ state-of-the-art communication and information technology to adapt their business models and operational processes to the competitive conditions and customer requirements of a digitalized, globalized economy. Detecon's expertise bundles the knowledge from the successful conclusion of management and ICT consulting projects in more than 160 countries. The company is a subsidiary of T-Systems International, the key account brand of Deutsche Telekom.
For additional information, go to:
www.detecon.com
info@detecon.com