A new era of business reinvention is dawning for Energy and Utility organizations
A new era of business reinvention is dawning. Organizations are facing an unprecedented convergence of technological, social and regulatory forces. As artificial intelligence, automation, IoT, blockchain and 5G become pervasive, their combined impact will reshape standard business architectures.
The “outside-in” digital transformation of the past decade is giving way to the “inside-out” potential of data exploited with these exponential technologies.
We, at IBM, call this next-generation business model the Cognitive Enterprise.
A Cognitive Enterprise incorporates technologies to create revenues and results via innovative strategies, products, platforms and experiences.
Cognitive Enterprises can create and use “platforms” to gain competitive advantage, rise jointly with ecosystem partners above complexity while leveraging legacy capability – and most importantly, proprietary data.
Cognitive Enterprise – An E&U perspective
E&U CxOs have sharpened their focus and become more proactive in their responses to these business model shifts. A third of EE&U organizations surveyed are actively exploring the idea of the platform business model.
Platforms are a means to deliver value by providing digital access to participants in a network, who can then interact or transact with other members. They may provide information, sell products or services, provide insight or recommend actions, enable collaboration or connect users to other users.
E&U executives have chosen the platform models they want to participate in:
Source: IBM Institute for Business Value(IBV)
Transforming to a Cognitive Enterprise – The 7 Keys
1. Clarify intent of core platform focus: Platforms that combine enterprise-specific assets with emerging technologies like AI, IOT, Blockchain etc. They will need to be digital and cognitive, connected to both the markets and external environments in which they operate.
2. Re-engineer workflows to use cognitive capabilities: This is a critical first practical step in shaping platform competitiveness. It is important to identify the workflows that are key to supporting your platform expertise and intent. Per an IBV study, 46% of energy executives find their operations are being integrated through technologies like IoT, blockchain, robotics, cloud, and analytics.
3. Reinvent your workforce proactively: As enterprises adopt business platforms as the core of their operations, the need for new skills and continuous re-skilling is accelerating. Per IBV’s research, only 54% indicated “they have the people skills and resources required to execute our business strategy.”
4. Curate proprietary data actively: Among the most common barrier to companies’ digital journeys is access to a “fit-for-purpose” data architecture, required to enable a better organization of and access to competitive internal data as well as to external data sourcing. Per IBV’s research,56% of E&U executives surveyed see it helping in optimization of business processes.
5. Secure your data, processes and platforms end-to-end: Security will be a pervasive concern throughout the Cognitive Enterprise. Trust in a platform will be fundamental to its durable success, and data security will be the critical underpinning.
6. Get agile, change fast and build things: Agility is required to drive continuous innovation, and can become a foundation for corporate culture transformation, new ways of working and exponential growth in learning.
7. Revisit and adjust technology architecture choices continually: Throughout the journey to become a Cognitive Enterprise, organizations should reassess architecture to enable organization-wide scaling, economic impact and ongoing adaptability.
As enterprises sit on unique assets in their core processes, proprietary data, business networks and expertise, Cognitive Enterprise presents a unique opportunity to harness these capabilities and reinvent them for a new age.
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