Combine and conquer
October 15, 2018
RESEARCH REPORT
In brief
In brief
- Our survey of 900 large companies revealed that only 13 percent said they are achieving efficiency, cost savings and business growth from their digital investments.
- Implementing digital technologies piecemeal will limit the full value they bring to the table.
- A combination of these—autonomous vehicles, AR/VR, big data, machine learning and mobile computing—can help to achieve the most in savings.
Many business leaders understand the power of digital, but they’re struggling to get the most out of their digital investments. One problem is that companies often deploy digital technologies in a piecemeal fashion. As a result, the benefits are seen in only one part of their organization. Companies may just not know which technologies will transform their core business.
There is tremendous value to be gained from choosing the right mix of digital technologies. Combining five digital technologies in particular—autonomous vehicles, augmented and virtual reality, big data, machine learning and mobile computing—could help companies save US$85,000 on average per employee.
The right technology mix is essential for improved efficiency and continued growth. But the right mix can change over time as technologies emerge and mature. Here are a few examples of the combinations yielding the most cost savings and market capitalization gains by industry.
Incremental savings in cost per employee by combining:
Additional gains in market capital by combining:
Embracing change
Industry X.0 businesses embrace and profit from change and leverage combinations of digital technologies to continuously create new, hyper-personalized experiences for business-to-consumer and business-to-business services.
Consider two examples of how companies are seizing the right digital mix to thrive:
Huawei uses digital technologies such as big data and analytics to power its Network Mind automated network traffic control system. The system, which enables self-adjusting voice control and data services, is up to 500 percent more efficient than existing control methods in meeting key performance indicators.
Hitachi’s IoT platform, Lumada, integrates commercial technologies into an open and adaptable architecture. Lumada supports the tailoring of various IoT applications and partner technologies to digital ecosystems across multiple industries and has helped energy companies reduce generation costs by 6 percent while growing operating profits by 122 percent.
Combining digital technologies isn’t something to leave to trial and error. As our research shows, valuable technological combinations allow companies to significantly reduce their cost per employee, grow their market cap and reinvent their operating models.
Get the Essentials
The right technology combinations will vary across industries and will change over time as technologies evolve. What’s more, the mix required to lower costs differs from that best suited to driving top-line growth.
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