Part 2: Introducing a Digital Business Platform

As we wrote in our blog Enable Your Digital Value Chain, the future of business in the digital information age is now. So it's time to think about how we can introduce a Digital Business platform.

Over the years, growth in transactional databases and other data sources -- as well as their associated systems -- has complicated enterprise applications and infrastructure. This, in turn, has complicated and stymied many organizations' ability to meet the needs of business units, whether in terms of timely access to analytics, the ability to absorb new business models, or to create new, streamlined business processes.

In response, you need to rewrite and simplify the applications to take advantage of a unique in-memory business platform. This removes previous technological barriers and helps companies reduce complexity and run simpler across the digital value chain.

In a nutshell, it enables three things:

Reimagine business

With the enterprise running in real time and big data at the core, new business models can easily be configured and opportunities to grow revenue and market share can be realized.

Reimagine IT

The IT landscape is dramatically simplified by the consolidation of transactional and analytical data into one, common in-memory structure. The application code is streamlined to leverage real-time processing. TCO is reduced and performance is improved.

Reimagine user experience

People-centric interfaces simplify the user experience. Business users can interact in real time and access all data, of all types, on any device.

With this new framework in place, enterprises can envision the possibilities afforded by a real-time, digital, simplified, and modern business platform. The following strategic areas articulate the business and IT capabilities that are enabled as a result of the digitization of the value chain:

Innovate for the future

By 2020, there will be as many as 50 billion devices connected to the Internet. Research also shows that there is over $14.4 trillion at stake from a combination of increased revenues and lower costs for organizations that harness the Internet of Things.

Customers/consumer-driven demand across value chains: All of this growth in connected devices leads to an unprecedented amount of data being generated every minute. Increasing customer/consumer-generated data offers new insights into behavior, and businesses must harness this information to drive meaningful insight.

Asset optimization and utilization: Data on and optimization of real-time asset usage, transparency, and utilization will will lead to increased revenues. Vital integration between assets and business processes will set the stage for the next level of value delivery across supply chain and logistics.

Emerging business models based on usage and metering: New business models seek to ask less of value chain stakeholders and deliver more based on sophisticated usage models, meter data, and data science.

The modern digital business platform serves as the only holistic foundation to enable businesses to innovate for the future and address these complexities. This is enabled via a platform that monitors, analyzes, and automates digital business in real time while continuously generating data-driven intelligence from all connected things, core business processes, and lines of business.

Fundamentally, you need to enable all assets, structured and unstructured data, and business processes across the digital value chain to be connected through a common digital business platform.This will enable the organization to explore new business models never before imagined.

Stay tuned for a series on use cases that show the value of this unique approach.

Looking forward to your feedback and stay tuned for more. Meanwhile follow me via @SDenecken