The role of artificial intelligence in digital transformation

How does a digital transformation project start? What are the steps involved? What does it exactly mean that Stratis "brings down to earth" the objectives of its clients?

When we create a strategy or a high-level system design, we start ab initio with the idea of how it will work in practice in real business processes and systems. All our work starts with thorough preparation. It's important to clearly define the objectives and make it clear to everyone where we want to go from square one. In the first step, our consultants try to understand the client's problems to formulate a strategy, targets and tangible KPIs. The second step is to implement these ideas and bring them down to earth in the form of an IT system. As part of the process, measurement points are defined.

In short, we analyze the problem, set clear-cut palpable targets, then design, build, test, and finally go live with the IT system needed to achieve them.

What are the biggest mistakes you can make in the course of development?

Many companies already fail by setting vague goals and not preparing their projects thoroughly enough. This usually happens when a company wants to introduce a new system and the associated new business processes almost overnight. Another basic mistake is when people are not prepared for change, or when a company wants to jump too high and does not heed the call for temperance and moderation.

Digital transformation is often erroneously defined as a goal. But what exactly does this concept mean?

Digital transformation is never an end, but rather a means or a way to achieve business goals. It is about giving a company a competitive advantage by introducing new products and services, and increasing efficiency in production or back-office processes.  It is important to stress that digital transformation is only partly about the application of new technology. The process is built around 3 pillars:

1.   Technology

2.   Business processes

3.   People

Technology alone is not enough. Digitisation is only successful if there are changes along business processes. No matter how excellent systems are envisaged, they must be suitable to be operated and communicate to people at the organisational level, too.

Why are data a key driver of digital transformation projects? Why is data cleansing important?

The answer is simple: We can only deliver reliable reports to our clients with good processes and clean data.

There is a huge amount of data available within every company but mostly infected by "garbage". If we were to build on it, we would end up with uncertain and unreliable reports. Cleansing should be preferably done in the source system where the data are generated. The final data are then typically transferred to a data lake or data warehouse. However, there are situations where the data can only be cleaned during the transformation. In such cases, the cost and the possibility of committing errors may increase.

It is equally important to note that there is a huge difference between data and information. Data alone are not enough, as they are only raw material. We need to extract information from it. If “data is the new oil”, as the saying goes, we tend to add that we refine it so that it becomes usable fuel for a company.

Where are Central and Eastern European companies now in terms of digital maturity?

Companies in the market today stand at many different levels of maturity. For example, there are industrial companies where the production plant was already built with a data-driven mindset and a digitised corporate vision. For a company to operate truly data-driven, it needs to be strong in two areas.

In addition to outstanding analytical capabilities, there is a need to have the technological knowledge to provide the background for analyses.

In its annual report last year, Forrester divided companies in Central and Eastern Europe into 4 categories based on these two criteria:

• 52% data novices with neither technology nor analytical skills;

• 20% techcentrics where IT is strong;

• 13% data enthusiasts who like to analyse but do not have the right data;

• 15% data champions who have advanced data analytics and the technology to apply it.

These figures also clearly show that we still have room for improvement. Nevertheless, we are optimistic about the future. Like the Covid-19 pandemic, we expect the crisis to be a catalyst for digital transformation projects to take off in yet novel places.

Ground or cloud?

Confidence in clouds is growing by the day. Anyone thinking about a new solution today should consider whether it is worth implementing it in a cloud. Today, most companies are already using cloud-based services to a greater or lesser extent. The benefits include cost-efficiency, speed, flexible access and scalability.

In conclusion, it is fair to say that implementing a digital transformation project is not an easy task, but successful projects can be concluded with clearly defined objectives, a step-by-step phased gradual approach, and agile methodologies. We always need to know the schedule or timeframe how we want to achieve our goals and with what kind of measured feedback. Stratis experts can provide you with solid support and partnership.

Feel free to contact us and let's embark together on the implementation of your company's new digital vision!