Digital @ Scale

6WHAT? STRENGTHENING THE FOUNDATION

HOW WILL IT get in shape to meet the challenges of digitization? What help will be available to analyze the enormous data volumes? And what type of organization does a company need to succeed in the digital world? This chapter explores the foundations for this success.

Speed is the hallmark of the digital world. Fast development times, short cycles, and rapid change are factors that overwhelm most traditional organizations. The first section of this chapter describes how companies can build a two-speed IT architecture. This involves a robust IT system deployed for stable functions with minimal need for intervention, and an agile, fast IT system for everything aimed at the rapid pace of digitization. We then move on to data, the new gold. Big data and advanced analytics—vast accumulations of unstructured data and its intelligent analysis—are critical success factors today. And since data theft can jeopardize success, we also describe ways to protect it. With the advent of the Internet of Things, software is making its way into everyday objects, and is also covered in this section on IT and technology.

However, digitization is also changing the culture and organization of companies, especially with the emergence of the chief digital officer (CDO), and we explain what this role does. Companies in the digital age need agile, cross-functional, flat hierarchies, and we explain how to go about it. Everyone wants digital talent, and we describe how ...