The prevailing wisdom today is that there are two types of companies: Digital Predators and Digital Prey. Which are you. IDC published a report discussing the third platform, which is basically everything digital, where they predicted that the S&P 500 will have a turnover of 75% between 2015 and 2020. Are you entering or leaving the S&P 500?
The basis for their argument is the average tenure of S&P 500 companies has dropped from 60 years in 1960 to less than 20 years today. Each new wave of innovation creates the disrupters and the disrupted. So this is why so many companies are talking about Digital Transformation. Because it is a big deal.
The reason the DX conversation is relevant to the Guardians Guild is because it is the future of the Connected World. Companies who prepare to leverage intelligence to better serve customers and partners will be more agile, more customer centric and therefore more likely to succeed. Many companies have emerged in the past 15 years to become leaders in the new digital economy. Driven by low cost computing, inexpensive access to over 3 billion consumers, and novel business models, companies like Google, Facebook, Amazon, NetFlix, and Uber have redefined business as we knew it. They have created/adapted agile development, software driven data centers, and Web Scale business operations that deliver high value low cost solutions to billions of users.
Google and Facebook have replaced print and broadcast leaders and now control more than 50% of advertising revenue. Amazon has replaced thousands of brick and mortar businesses and is now the largest provider of cloud computing in the world. NetFlix pushed blockbuster out of business and continues to threaten the business models of networks and cable operators. Uber has become public enemy number one to the taxi and limousine business, and with the introduction of driverless cars our entire approach to private transportation will change forever.Did you notice that GM invested $500 million in Lift?
All of these companies are leveraging data and intelligence derived from interacting with their customers, vendors and partners. The key to a successfully digitally transformed enterprise is real-time continuous access to real and relevant data. Companies who plan to be here in the next decade are already investing in collecting data from all sources. The main advice from analysts is to MEASURE EVERYTHING before during and after engagements and this includes all touch points.
When your company starts talking to you about Digital Transformation you can respond by asking if there is a strategy to collect, correlate, codify, store and analyze all of the data that matters. Until companies are prepared to do this in real time they are simply going to need to turn the lights on and never go home. Not a future I relish. What is your company doing about Digital Transformation?