The Steam Engine and Digital Transformation: So far! And yet so near…
A few days ago, at a seminar on digital transformation organized by the Official College of Industrial Engineers of Gipuzkoa, I had a chance to listen to Bernardo Hernández, Executive Chairman of Verse Technologies. In his opinion, digital transformation reflects something similar that already happened with the advent of the steam engine: no one grasped the depth of the change it entailed.
During the early stages of the industrial revolution, steam engines simply substituted horses. It took some time for entrepreneurs of the age to understand that they also had to evolve other aspects. The carts being pulled could no longer be made of wood: it was necessary to use other materials. Neither could they remain open: the speed and the smoke generated by the engine made travel uncomfortable. A new technology had emerged that not only came to replace the horses; it also drove the industrial revolution and changed the world forever.
But what was behind this change? A mere technology or the capacity to understand and assume that such technology was paving a one-way path to the evolution of the business foundations and models of the age?
Beyond Technology
We could ask the same question with regard to digital transformation, that fourth industrial revolution that everyone is talking about. Is this simply about incorporating technology into existing businesses, or thinking about how technology can evolve our business?
We can all think of disruptive companies that have changed the business models of whole sectors. However, the digital transformation is not solely reserved for these exemplary paradigms. Any company may ask itself and answer the question with reflection, effort and professional support: how can I transform my business to obtain the greatest benefit from technology?
The fundamental thing about this question is that it confronts us with the key to an authentic process of digital transformation – that in which technology is a tool, where what is important is to identify how processes may be transformed, how efficiency may be increased… how the foundations of our businesses may be changed to create more value, by applying technology.
An authentic challenge, and more so if account is taken of the fact that the concept of digital transformation applies to any type of business, in principle.
Collaboration: Indispensable in Creating a Proposal for Digital Transformation
At Ikusi, we build our value proposals for the digital transformation of businesses on our integration, engineering and technological development capacity. However, specializing in many fields is hard and not very pragmatic. For that reason, we at Ikusi have created an ecosystem of partners specializing in deep learning, sensors, data analytics, cybersecurity… an ecosystem under perpetual construction that enables us to add specific products and services in order to assemble end-to-end solutions for our clients.
We have our own ‘steam engine’ – an experience of over 45 years in integration projects and the vocation of working with our clients to provide support throughout the process that will enable them to identify and implement the necessary changes in order to protagonize their own digital transformation.