In search of the network effect

Seamless technology connectivity can be a superpower for businesses. But, according to our research, an overwhelming 95% of business leaders say their companies are yet to achieve it. 

Connecting systems, data, and applications unlocks numerous benefits. An automotive company might fit sensors to parts and factory machines to create automated production forecasts. 

Autonomous mobile robots in smart factories can reduce scrap by up to 30% by handling materials more accurately than human workers. In healthcare, unfettered access to patient data can reduce diagnosis times. For knowledge workers, unified communications tools can boost productivity.

Connectivity is vital; it allows the information collected from sensors to be sent to a data platform where it can be combined with other data, analyzed, and used to generate meaningful insights. Connected technology passes these insights to experts or to the relevant robots that can turn them into actions.

However, in our survey of 500 business leaders across four industries and six markets, only 5% say they have achieved seamless technology connectivity. Business leaders who haven’t achieved this level of connectivity blame various barriers, including differences in internal culture, a lack of consistent IT tools across markets and functions, and the absence of a “single version of truth” data set.

When asked what the biggest barrier to technology connectivity is, businesses are most likely to say the C-suite (42%), which suggests that more needs to be done to gain the attention and support of leadership. This is imperative, particularly as businesses look to take advantage of the benefits offered by artificial intelligence (AI) — another data-hungry technology that requires connectivity to unlock its power.

Breaking down silos

Silos are an issue in any large organization. Research by Forrester found that knowledge workers spend almost 12 hours a week searching for the information they need to do their jobs. 

Another study from Coveo suggests workers could waste more than 20 hours per week searching for data spread across different systems and departments. 

The widespread adoption of AI raises security concerns, however. “We only allow people to go on a test-bed environment, where we are monitoring what they’re looking to achieve from using these platforms,” says Peter Smith, Director of IT Operations EMEA and India at Cision. “Then, we’ve got a steering committee that looks at how people are trying to use these technologies in their day-to-day roles and how we can embed that into our workflows.” 

Security concerns can be an obstacle for technology connectivity, particularly for businesses that handle personal data, which comes with various restrictions, or proprietary data that has commercial value for competitors. A balance must be struck between the need to mitigate risk and the value of connecting data so people can work smarter. 

Accepting and embracing change 

For any of this to work, the relevant data must be available and accessible. That usually means moving it to the cloud, but cost constraints can often delay this process. Senior leaders might hesitate because of the initial costs of transformation, or they might be concerned about the ongoing costs of cloud storage. 

A CloudZero study suggests that almost 60% of companies think their cloud costs are too high. 

However, short-term costs must be weighed against the increased capabilities that the cloud provides, such as greater technology connectivity. Organizations should also consider the detrimental effect on long-term opportunities caused by delaying optimization, collaboration, and automation efforts. Furthermore, cloud services also offer the benefit of removing ongoing costs, such as the need to manage proprietary infrastructure. 

For Baumgart, the solution is to lower the integration barrier. Technological solutions are available that make it easier — and more cost-effective — to break down silos, give different departments access to common tools, and point everyone toward a single version of truth for data queries, which is likely to be accessible via the cloud. 

This approach can avoid conflicting strategies, such as the consumer electronics division building its own enterprise resource planning system, while the heavy machinery division buys an off- the-shelf cloud solution for this purpose. Transformation must offer the optimum solution so that no department is tempted to find an option that it feels better meets its needs.