Rapidly build agile organizations

Answers are provided by a study conducted by the management consulting firm Detecon in cooperation with the digital association Bitkom. For this purpose, more than 200 leading IT and business decision-makers from large and medium-sized companies in German-speaking countries were surveyed. The empirical study determines how IT in these countries is likely to develop over the next ten years. On this basis, it provides a precise organizational target picture for a digital and agile company and makes concrete recommendations for action for operational implementation.

Digitization is a matter for the boss

More than 50 percent of the companies surveyed are already taking the topics of digitization and the Internet of Things (IoT) into account in the development and implementation of their business strategy, while only around 20 percent are not planning anything in this regard. The resulting relevance is also reflected in the responsibility: The vast majority continue to see overall responsibility for planning and implementing IoT projects with their CEO, and only partial responsibility with the CIO. The study thus contradicts the often postulated trend toward a company's own CDO (Chief Digital Officer).

More agile structures needed in the company

The study also shows that while over 80 percent of respondents consider agile structures to be important or very important for the digitization of a company, at the same time less than 25 percent of their own company is already working in agile structures. For the future, only a share of between 25 and 50 percent is expected here. "This is all the more surprising as a stronger change in the direction of agile principles would have been expected, as companies will have to operate in two "modes of operation" in the future: They must continue to provide reliable performance in their core business, but also to develop customer-centric

Innovative strength and speed as we know them from start-ups. And that is possible only with agile structures," says Carsten Glohr, Managing Partner at Detecon and expert for digitization strategies, evaluating the results of the study. Companies should therefore establish agility not only in the processes but also consistently in the organizational structure by forming networked and cross-departmental digital teams, advises Detecon.

Higher demand for qualified employees

According to the study participants, the IoT is not destroying jobs; on the contrary. The study shows: On the contrary, automation and digitization are generating considerable growth in the company's workforce. This is forecast at up to ten percent annually. In particular, there is an urgent need for "digital competence," i.e., personnel who specialize in digitization. "Entirely new job descriptions have emerged, such as 'big data analyst' or 'social media manager,'" explains Carsten Glohr. "The fact that almost 88 percent of companies want to meet the challenge of digitization primarily by building up skills in-house, i.e., by hiring permanent staff, supports this thesis."

Change in all business areas

Unsurprisingly, companies expect the strongest impact of digitization to come from their IT departments. Business units such as service, logistics and production, supported by cloud models and software as a service, are increasingly claiming sovereignty over IT for strategic reasons. According to the study, this development can currently be observed in the marketing environment with regard to product IT, for example. Nevertheless, the respondents are consistently in favor of a separate IT unit within the company. "IT will move closer to all other business units, but will not merge with them," summarizes Glohr. "That's why it's necessary for IT departments to develop a similarly deep understanding of the company's business and process requirements as already exists in the business departments."

Source: www.detecon.com/IoT