"Digital is actually increasing our uncertainty about the future." It is quite problematic dealing with digital change; there are tons of low-level technologies that come and go - they launch, change, intersect and adapt.
"It is easy to get lost in the conversation. And leaders need to understand how to lead the changes that need to be made to respond to all this," said Mark Raskino, VP and Gartner fellow in the Executive Leadership and Innovation group of Gartner Research.
During his presentation on the second morning of Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2015 under way in Cape Town, Raskino discussed three major forces that are leading the change towards becoming a digital business: resolution revolution, compound uncertainty and boundary blurring.
According to Raskino, the resolution revolution concerns how businesses shift their focus to respond to the changes that are happening as a result of new technologies. "In this era, the focus is on data. Not on process."
The variety and kinds of data available is where the new opportunities are happening, he went on to say. This is allowing companies to see things in detail that they could not have seen before.
He cited compound uncertainty as a phenomenon that sees an ecosystem of hesitation around the regulation, business processes and accepted cultural practices that need to be navigated as a result of the digital revolution.
"Regulation, culture and technology will intersect in these digital businesses. What we're inventing is so new that we don't actually know how to regulate it. We may want this future but we have to invent a new area of regulation to keep things in check."
Boundary blurring sees digital technologies sullying the boundaries between existing industries. As products and services become connected and smart, we are opening up new market adjacencies, noted Raskino.
"The barriers to entry in different industries have been blurred by digital mechanisms." He suggested certain industries will even change names as the nature of what they do at a fundamental level is set to change drastically.
What this requires, noted Raskino, is a remapping and remodelling of enterprises and industries. Digital business is a team sport, which means everyone from the C-level execs to the finance director to HR and sales must be involved, he continued.
For Raskino, the dawn of the digital business requires that organisations analyse their strategic position, target strategic business and product change, and promote a digitally-savvy culture.
"We have to reconstruct the future by copying what born-digital firms do, learning and doing it ourselves. Excuses are no longer sufficient. If you don't succeed at making these changes, these kinds of companies will dominate the future of your industry and start to take the food off your plate. It is that simple."
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