{"id":13237,"date":"2018-08-30T11:00:47","date_gmt":"2018-08-30T19:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2018\/08\/30\/news-7004\/"},"modified":"2018-08-30T11:00:47","modified_gmt":"2018-08-30T19:00:47","slug":"news-7004","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2018\/08\/30\/news-7004\/","title":{"rendered":"Scanning the periphery of Digital Disruption"},"content":{"rendered":"

Credit to Author: Herv\u00e9 Coureil| Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2018 15:42:37 +0000<\/strong><\/p>\n

We knew who they were \u2014 and they knew us. I am speaking of our competitors; that is, the ones before we embarked on our digital journey.<\/p>\n

Indeed, before digital disruption started to take hold a decade ago, executives kept a sharp eye on their company\u2019s close competitors. That meant regularly checking market performance and reading the latest trade write-ups of solution offerings and advancements. Back then, our shared competitive landscape was a known roadmap with clear markers, common trends, and consistent R&D efforts to stay ahead of the curve.<\/p>\n

Now, as all companies often face new technologies, demographic shifts, new rivals, new regulations, and other environmental changes that seem to come from nowhere, how can we avoid being blindsided? And, moreover, how can we capitalize on these changes? The challenges faced often begin as weak signals at the periphery: the blurry zone at the edge of an organization\u2019s vision. As with any peripheral vision, these signals are difficult to see and interpret, but they can be vital to success or survival.<\/p>\n

Widening our view<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Today, as industry incumbents, we all must widen our view, allowing for a \u201chealthy paranoia\u201d of what\u2019s happening in other industries. Now, it’s about waking up every morning and looking beyond obvious competitors, as well as scrutinizing what’s happening on the fringes of one\u2019s \u201cbusiness as usual.\u201d Are new entrants unbundling legacy monolithic business models into new digital service offers built to address customer needs quickly? Are new ways of solving customer problems responsively powered by \u2014 \u00a0or built around \u2014 \u00a0technology (such as voice, vision, mobile, AR, etc.)?<\/p>\n

We know how it goes: to a hammer, all problems look like a nail. Likewise, new digital technologies allow us both to envision existing problems through a new lens and to see solutions that never were envisioned before. And, as Clayton Christensen stated almost 15 years ago when he formulated the Law of Conservation of Attractive Profits (in his book The Innovator\u2019s Solution<\/em>), \u201cWhen\u00a0attractive profits <\/strong><\/em>disappear at one stage in the value chain because a product becomes modular and commoditized, the opportunity to earn\u00a0attractive profits<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0with proprietary products will usually emerge at an adjacent stage.\u201d[i]<\/a><\/p>\n

Most companies are proficient at tracking developments in existing technologies that could affect their business. But this focus can deflect attention from emerging technologies and lateral disruptors\u2019 and incumbents\u2019 movements that could be important in the future. This approach has been a fundamental driver for Schneider Electric\u2019s digital transformation innovation.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also a way to wrest ourselves from the complacency that success often brings. Our commitment to customer-centric innovation drives us every day. So, indeed, we must be open to some level of healthy paranoia to continually pay attention well beyond our industry at what potentially may change the competitive landscape \u2014 even on a moment\u2019s notice. And to focus on what Jeff Bezos refers to as customers\u2019 divine discontent.[ii]<\/a><\/p>\n

Taking action on what you see is key. <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Our IoT-enabled architecture EcoStruxure\"\u2122\"<\/a> is the lens through which we see \u2014 and bring about \u2014 the digital future.<\/p>\n

Technology flattens everything. What’s happening in another industry may end up having a strong impact on your own company after a while. An expanded ecosystem of digital players<\/a> is key to being able to act fast. Ecosystem partners can bring a higher level of agility and a much broader base of technology expertise than any one player, they can act as a virtual network of sensors enabling the early detection of disruption weak signals in adjacent industries.<\/p>\n

Combined with decades of domain expertise from a company such as Schneider, a thriving ecosystem sets you on a stable path for successfully navigating today\u2019s accelerated digital economy.<\/p>\n

For Schneider, leading the digital transformation of energy management and automation is not just about energy. We also need to move information <\/em>together with energy, i.e., moving bits with electrons. And that\u2019s really where the world of energy and the world of information technology are blending together thanks to widespread connectivity and IoT. What\u2019s more, this digital world of energy is not just about digitizing. It\u2019s also about becoming digita<\/em>l. That\u2019s the dynamic duo \u2014 digitizing<\/em> and going digita<\/em>l \u2014 that has been so well described by Jeanne Ross of MIT[iii]<\/a>. Offering a frictionless customer experience requires one to become Digital and to Digitize at the same time.<\/p>\n

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