Leveraging the digital business in practice

 

Let’s start by framing where the problem might lie. Have you ever decided on a way of working, or a direction for your business that had to align with the limitations that your IT infrastructure, your ERP functionality or other business critical application set?

Rather than acting on what the true value would be for your business and your customers? Imagine what it would be like if technology and software acted as a force-multiplier for your business rather than a limiting factor. What would you be able to do? What would it mean for your employees, your products, your services and for your customers? 
 

“Computer says no”, Carol, Little Britain 

 

It lies in our human nature that we have to simplify our perception of reality in order to deal with our daily lives. We’re amazingly good at creating models and shortcuts for how things work without questioning their nature.  
 

The good thing is that:

• It’s essential for our survival; we know that every lion is potentially dangerous without experimenting on an individual basis 
• It’s practical and efficient time-wise; we don’t stop to truly understand what makes the room brighter when flicking the light switch, and  
• It’s  the path of least resistance; our urge to deal with what may be considered urgent and important trumps more fundamental, long term issues (finding the next mammoth to hunt down instead of engineering lab-grown proteins, for example) 

The downside is that we transpose this behavior and thought patterns to areas where it doesn’t serve us as well to bypass questioning the status quo, rethinking the boundaries and limitations set out by, for example, technology. This is compounded by a commonly occurring affinity for the familiar, the predictable and reliable – even if it may be inconvenient. We prefer stability to unpredictability, and if “it’s not invented here” or represents patterns crossing e.g. generational behavior gaps it may be even harder to adopt into the organization. 

Breaking out of the mold 

To paraphrase Slavoj Žižek, we lack the insight to see what is truly possible. If we make the effort to rethink, reimagine, and innovate just one step further as part of our everyday processes. Ask that extra “why”, and “how can we” – even if it feels uncomfortable or naive. 

“ .. we lack the very language to articulate our unfreedom.” 
Slavoj Žižek 
 

Our recent and ongoing journey towards a world where literally everything is represented, measured and reflected in the digital dimension is a massive driver for change. Not only for what we come up with for the future, but for refining and improving on what we have done in the past. Take our existing IT infrastructure, platforms, applications and interfaces as an example. We’re constantly faced by situations where the requirements to support e.g. a real-time live-data connected customer-facing app, higher degrees of automation in finance and HR, common reporting across divisions and geographies etc. are weighed down by the way we used to do things. This is a side-effect as requirements, systems thinking and technological maturity levels were overall lower. Simpler times. So we have to rethink, reimagine and innovate not just for what we will do next, but for how we used to do things as well, reassembling the airliner mid-flight, so to speak. 
 

“We cannot solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them” 
Albert Einstein  
 

The upside is that it’s the very leaps and bounds in innovation and technology that in a way force change upon us. That also support and enable us to undo some of the limitations we imposed on ourselves at earlier points in time.
 

The ties that bind 

For example, our handling of data, information, from previous generations of systems appears to be woefully inadequate when compared to modern day requirements.  It’s fragmented, inaccurate, incomplete, and stored across several systems, platforms, applications, databases and formats. More often than not in partially overlapping duplicates. It’s a mess, and the best thing would be to wipe the slate clean and do it over.  

Ironically, that is actually one of the major advantages any startup in any industry has to present over the established industry dominating dragons. They’re swift, agile, nimble and not weighed down by legacy ways of working, systems or maintenance costs. That way, they move fast, adopt to customer expectations, grow exponentially and disrupt the previously fortified actors on the market.   

Because wiping the slate clean and doing it all over again comes with a number of challenges; it’s costly, it has a huge impact on ongoing business, and pulls considerable resources from their current focus. If you’re on the aforementioned airliner, you don’t want to see the captain outside the fuselage hammering away on the starboard engine with a wrench.

We obviously need some way to address this challenge. Read the next part of this blog post; Shaping your digital future. 

Are you looking for ways to leverage technology to benefit your business and outsmart the competition?  Get in touch - every step forward starts with a constructive and thorough discussion!


 

 

 

The ultimate customer journey

 

 

 

Imagine great customer service, the amazing experience as you make a purchase, in a store, or online.  Or the small, pleasant surprises along the way that make up the positive experience.  What is it, that make you happy with a service, a product, that makes you choose that supplier, that brand? 

 

It may be a smooth process, hassle-free experience, surprise; the little premium addons. Or an interface, tone and language, design of a product, responsiveness in the service.  It can also be the lack of issues in delivery and use or realized benefit to you or your business.  The main common denominator is that the customer and user experience go beyond the expected, exceeded expectations and surprises the customer in a positive way by thinking through, thinking ahead and caring for them. 

Now imagine that experience is what your business offers your customers and why your customers choose you as their supplier, or service provider. 

This requires some serious up front work, as customers – just like you – are individuals and have different expectations, preferences and requirements that need to be met individually. 

 

Every business is unique – still we face very similar challenges 

Today, a lot of what we can create and offer as a superior customer experience removes hassle and annoying unnecessary steps from the process of obtaining the product or service. It allows the customer to focus on their area of expertise. On their business,  interests, or life, rather than whatever it is we as suppliers require them to fulfill to match our delivery process. 

It can also mean tailoring the way they interact with you and vice versa, to their preference. The means of communication, channels of choice, interface design and feedback collection. 

The key to enabling that proactive approach, is a working information flow connecting end-to-end from sourcing to product or service lifecycle management. With an information structure that supports each core process, you enable capabilities like automation and predictive algorithms to build towards the superior customer experience. 

 - "The market comparison for best buy and pricing options including warranty was very helpful, thank you." 

 - "Amazing that my account details could be shared with the OEM for support and driver download purposes."   

 - "YesI would like some of that toner to go with my purchase of the printer, thanks."   

 - "It'd be great if the invoice is sent to my employer while the delivery address for the goods is my home office address." 

The type of context, product and challenge is interchangeable depending on product, service, industry and customer type - but you get the picture. 

 

Reaching the next level 

The way we can predict, preempt, proactively solve problems or provide complementary services will in the end decide whether or not we remain competitive in the market.  When applied intelligently, these features can save time, money, quality of life, lives and businesses. 

·        “The automated monitoring service detected the failing disk array in time, placed a replacement order for the spare part including a work order for the operations team, and kept the insurance claim website online”. 

·        “The fraud detection algorithm caught the use of the stolen card on the second attempt, and locked down the account”. 

·        “The extended credit background analysis enabled John to grant a homeowners loan to Emma”.

·        “The predictive maintenance functionality alerted the repair crews of which parts to exchange to avoid catastrophic engine failure of the aircraft”. 

A crucial step towards enabling such capabilities within your business, is to embark on the digital journey towards becoming a digital business. You cannot manage, what you cannot measure and today, verything in a business can in fact be measured, with the right support of technology and organization. The step beyond is to fully engage with your customer, to identify preferences, behavioral patterns and predictable events, to anticipate and proactively meet their demand. 

 

Growing in lock-step with technology

Reaching the end of the journey isn’t a question of introducing a big bang launch of an all-encompassing system that will remedy all problems and meet all requirements. But rather a maturity ladder where process, organization and data are handled with an end-to-end perspective and the customer experience and value in mind.

Just imagine never having to remedy spikes in customer returns handling, erroneous invoice complaints, lie awake worrying about warranty claims or overloaded customer support departments. Such situations will not even arise, or at least be proactively automated to provide a smooth and positive customer experience, when  everything else fails.

Proper handling and information of data leads to information. Information combined with process mapping leads to knowledge.  Knowledge with experience leads to insight – and insight applied through continuous improvement leads to foresight.  Foresight, it is becoming the industry standard to live up to, regardless of which business you are in. 

Are you looking for ways to leverage technology to benefit your business and outsmart the competition?  Get in touch - every step forward starts with a constructive and thorough discussion!


 

Foundations of digital business

 

 

Would you consider your electrical company a strategic technological partner, your water & sewage company a high tech supplier, or perhaps you see your fridge as a sophisticated piece of bespoke refridgeration technology that requires specialist installation, support and care to operate properly? 

 

I didn’t think so because over time, these once high-tech and edge cutting innovations have become what we perceive them like today; utilities and appliances.
 

From breakthrough to infrastructure

Through standardization and harmonization, fierce competition and groundbreaking ways to package, sell and deliver these everyday features to you, basically make these technologies ubiquitous. Like air, water and wifi (try to explain to a 3-year old why his or her entertainment device doesn’t work on the far side of the garden) ;many of the incredible feats of technology and civilization we enjoy in the privileged parts of the world technology undergoes a process where the benefit and value becomes a commodity.  We obtain and purchase it differently over time and even adjust our perception of it,from strategic to invisible (although still imperative for “everything else” to work). 
 

In a similar fashion, IT infrastructure for networking, storage, computing power and business applications have undergone a seismic shift over the past 10 years. Where we once considered in-house datacenters, server rooms, IT departments and development teams to be a strategic resource, many of these supporting functions are now considered a grindstone to carry when the accelerating pace of market preferences and competition force most industries and lines of business as the only way forward. Instead, cloud infrastructure, software as a service applications and outsourcing of non-core business functions (finance, IT, logistics, transport, manufacturing) have become the norm, richly rewarded by the market analysts. 

 

A magical customer experience

The idea, concept and understanding of the customer, the customer experience remain as the competitive edge. These artefacts have something in common that can be boiled down into a single statement: They’re either made up of or inherently dependent of data, information. With better data and better information, you are able to serve your customer better, regardless if it is through smoother shipping (1-day Amazon Prime, anyone?), superior quality (LVMH, Apple, perhaps – although not my personal preference), or competition-breaking pricing (Wish, Alibaba, Costco, Walmart etc).  Sometimes, clever technology can even seem practically magical. On a personal note, an example of such a moment was the first time using BankID (two factor authentication via mobile device) when logging into a governmental web service. It just worked, was really smooth, and quick.  Most Swedes today would struggle to deal with everyday tasks without BankID,  technology that works like magic. You get used to it, and you get hooked.  Like Arthur C. Clarke coined, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”.
 

The Fortune 500- or 100-companies of the world could once gain a tremendous competitive advantage by investing in state of the art data collection and analytics tools. When applied on a well curated data set, they could provide insights on how to optimize logistics, purchasing and a positive experience of customer returns, engage in a meaningful way with the user community. All those things that we just know that we love when we get to experience it but sometimes have a hard time pinning down what makes it different from other offers or suppliers. A good customer experience.  Good quality.  Excellent design.  Smooth, accessible, easy to use.  It doesn’t have to be cheap. Sometimes it doesn’t hurt but is worth the price at least. Sometimes we even like to pay a little extra for bells and whistles knowing that we paid for but also got the premium product or service.
 

These massive investments required were made into bespoke infrastructure (servers, data centers), technology platforms (licenses, application expert teams) and software (applications and company specific development) that could easily run into a 1MUSD price tag as a starting point, never mind the total cost.  Like any high stakes poker game, to sit down at the big table, you have to have a lot of chips to throw down in the first place.  In some industries and businesses it isn’t even about finding a ROI; this is what is known as a “moat”.  If your investments in for example technology make the stakes to enter the market too high and too uncertain for the competition, you have a virtual monopoly or at least oligopoly in your hands. 
 

Turning on the first lightbulb

Just imagine what the initial investment was to turn on the first lightbulb in New York, to make that first coast-to-coast telegraph connection or first transatlantic phone call.  Luckily, we know that economies of scale work in our favour as consumers when tools and technologies become standardized, common commodities.  We also know that the power or value of a network rises exponentially. The first user of a fax machine didn’t really see the benefit of it until there were two, three, and 3 million, once upon a time.  The struggle to maintain technological superiority still rages, with Google, Amazon, Facebook, TenCent, Alibaba and other global supercompanies going into true AI, quantum computing and setting up their own currencies or global logistics services.  The groundbreaking work and investments in technology, however, are ever faster becoming available to broader layers of users in the enterprise market as innovation and infrastructure access grows exponentially.

To draw upon these mechanisms and find ways of making sophisticated information management tools available for a wider audience, Enfo has been working for a long time on finding ways to offer cutting edge application tools and infrastructure, on a format that is accessible, affordable and most importantly of all,scalable, to allow our customers to approach adoption, implementation and operation in a step-by-step manner, where both annual investment budget and sensible ROI calculations can be followed each step of the way.

 

Laying the Foundations

Some conclusions can be summarised:

• Customers want to be able to start small, with a minimum viable product, and see the real impact in their business before taking further steps.
• This impacts the pricing model, and methodology.
• Customers want to be able to focus on their core business, leveraging every bit of cash flow into the competitive edge they have over other actors in the market, without heavy CapEx investment.
• This impacts delivery format and license management  
• Customers want flexibility, agility and hassle-free information management to support their decision making process, and a better way of reaching, understanding and communicating with their customers.
• This impacts the IT landscape planning and choice of technology stack, and partners.

 Technology can truly be magical, but sometimes it’s even more wonderful when you don’t have to think about it at all.  It just works, like any flick of the lightswitch or your fridge.

Are you looking for ways to leverage technology to benefit your business and outsmart the competition?  Get in touch - every step forward starts with a constructive and thorough discussion!