Decisively Digital. Alexander Loth

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Decisively Digital

       From Creating a Culture to Designing Strategy

       Alexander Loth

Introduction

      Decisively Digital: From Creating a Culture to Designing Strategy is intended to be an overview of various state-of-the-art topics that are essential for organizations that want to transform and go digital. This book contains 24 interviews with executives, entrepreneurs, and researchers, as well as two real-life customer examples. My hope is that you will find useful ideas and inspiration for understanding the current trends and how to effectively establish a digital strategy that drives success in your organization, just as I have seen with the many organizations that I have had the privilege of working with over recent years.

      The book should be of interest to different audiences:

       Chief information officers (CIOs), chief digital officers (CDOs), and any executive who crafts their organization's digital journey

       Professionals who want to understand how technology can improve their work

       Generally, anybody with interest in modern technology and a desire to understand how this blends into business

To follow the contents of this book, the reader requires neither a background in mathematics nor any programming experience.

Book Structure

      This book is structured in six parts. Part I: Digital Strategy, provides a framework to identify requirements and define a strategy tailored to your individual organization.

      Each of the remaining parts is dedicated to a specific strategic topic:

       Part II: Digital Culture and Modern Work

       Part III: Data Democracy and Analytics

       Part IV: Big Data Processing and Cloud Computing

       Part V: Artificial Intelligence

       Part VI: Process Automation, Blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoT)

      The strategic topic parts include interviews as well as real-life customer examples.

About the Interviews

      All interviews in this book have some questions in common. The interviews start with personal questions to set the stage, and they conclude with questions for advice that you might immediately apply. Most questions are, however, tailored to catch the most relevant insights and ideas. These ideas serve as a toolkit for assembling your own digital strategy.

      During the interviews, I also received counterquestions. I have answered the most common of them in the Appendix, “Reciprocity: Answering Some of My Own Questions.”

Companion Website

All amendments, updates and recommended reading materials will be posted to www.decisivelydigital.org/.

       Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

      —Arthur C. Clarke

Part I Digital Strategy

Chapter 1 Introduction to Digital Strategy

      The digital age is here to stay. Unfortunately, many organizations do not take advantage of its possibilities. Every industry is facing transformational change right now. And for many organizations, how they defined success yesterday is not how they are defining it today. For example, while growth may have been the only goal in the past, other metrics, such as a sustainability score, have become essential nowadays.

      Having endless possibilities (and new competitive challenges), organizations are asking themselves how their businesses must evolve to survive and thrive. The answer to this question is digital strategy!

A digital strategy will lead the way for your organization to become part of the digital age, also known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution. “The changes are so profound that, from the perspective of human history, there has never been a time of greater promise or potential peril,” says Professor Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of