Demystifying DxQ

Of late the word ‘Digital’ has become a popular one to be used in the world of business, especially if one talks in the context of the ever escalating speed of change. Unfortunately there seems to be no standard definition of this term. At one level, all human activities that have moved from physical to an electronic platform are termed ‘digital’. Hence, wrist watches have become digital, as opposed to the ancient analog ones. So have speedometers, BP instruments and televisions. Even the simple typewrites and adding machines are now being deferred to word processors and electronic spreadsheets.

As time and technology have progressed, the extent of digitisation has become more, and even more complex. Our erstwhile instrument based and paper based world has given way to an almost totally ‘digitised’ world. The ingress of digitisation in our lives and business houses is so deep that the term ‘Digital’ has begun to change its meaning. A turning point seems to be the explosion and commercialisation of the use of the World Wide Web, and the trailing technological wonders that followed.

In business, as in life in general, the option to move into this new-look digital world with the slow, “boiled frog” like advancements seems impossible. The new technology world has virtually crash landed on us, whether we like it or not. The only option left to modern mankind is to quickly adopt and adapt, which we are now in the midst of. This is commonly known as Digital Transformation.

We have already learned that transformation is inevitable and irreversible. It appears in curves and phases, and those who do not rapidly move with the curve, get left behind to become social or corporate dinosaurs. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon famously said "In today’s era of volatility, there is no other way but to re-invent. The only sustainable advantage you can have is agility, because nothing else is sustainable. Everything else you create, somebody else will replicate."

Soon there will be time to reinvent even more. Cutting edge technologies of today, such as IoT, AI, Robotics, Intelligent Automation and the much used magical technology trifecta: Big Data, Cloud, and Mobile, will soon be outdated. Some of the industries, such as Communications are already changing their business models using these recent inventions. Today it takes little more than a cell phone and social media to publish a book, or be a Secret Superstar! That done, the eye of the technology disruption hurricane will now rapidly be moving toward the next big phase.

Preparing oneself and the people for this imminent disruption is getting to be equally difficult. Not only have newer technologies to be learned, the old ones need to be forgotten and purged out of the system – those that we seems to have learned and installed just yesterday, or last week! Qualitative skills once considered soft skills are now becoming equally critical: Creativity, Collaboration, Flexibility, Resilience and Empathy. In order to be able to cope with the change in times, these are the skills that employees are being encouraged to develop and managers are hiring for.

In this edition of Process Edge, the editorial team has focussed on helping the reader acquire a better sense of the preparedness for the digital transformation underway now. As usual, we seek the readers’ opinions and views in order to better understand and hence better share, for a better future.

Edition Publish Date: November 2017

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Table of Contents
COVER STORY

Demystifying DxQ – Executing Digital Transformation

Going Digital
DEMYSTIFYING THE NUANCES OF LIVING IN THE CLOUD

Procurement Twenty 20
CREATING VALUE FOR THE BUSINESS ENTERPRISE

Creating Business Value
A TRANSFORMATIONAL JOURNEY TOWARDS CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE – “TraCE” – A VECV Case Study

The Digital Metamorphosis – Transitioning Successfully
A REPORT ON SSF’s LEADERSHIP INTERACTION

Taking the Robot out of the Human
THE DIGITAL WORKFORCE AND EVOLUTION OF THE NEW-STYLE ENTERPRISE

Designing Shared Services for Competitive Advantage
SYSTEMIC EVOLUTION THROUGH TECHNOLOGY AND ANALYTICS

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