Competence Requirements in Digitalization

The individual phases of a digitalization project are always the same, regardless of the project or the company. What is interesting, however, is what you as a company bring to the table and what you are able to deliver yourself.

• Is digitalization new territory for you, and have you been putting the topic off for a long time?
• Have you already started your digitalization and got stuck?

Let us simply look together at the individual steps of a digitalization project and the respective entry points for the service provider.

Phase 1 – Nirvana

As a company, you do not yet know that digitalization is possible or even necessary. Especially in this early phase, a service provider can already support you and, together with you, lay the foundation for the next phase.

Phase 2 – Desire

You have understood the advantages that digitalization brings, but you do not yet have a clear picture. The value that digitalization offers is recognizable to you.

By the way, it is fundamentally not important whether a service provider has industry expertise. It is helpful, however, if they have already solved similar tasks.

Phase 3 – Idea

You already have a clear vision of where the digital journey is heading. However, you have not yet been able to define the milestones, the exact details or the functionality of the digital solution.

But don't worry — the right service provider brings the know-how to define the features and development steps together with you.

Phase 4 – Specified

You already have experience in carrying out complex projects. You are able to fully specify the entire functionality and deliver a complete requirements catalog.

From many years of experience, however, we have learned that today's digitalization projects call for a different approach. Very early on, we look at the requirements from the perspective of the future users and derive so-called user stories from them. These enable the right development team to deliver the best possible result for the eventual users of the software.

Phase 5 – Development

We are now in what is probably the most important phase of digitalization. Close and continuous communication between you and the service provider is essential. At regular, not-too-long intervals, we present the interim result and gather your feedback. This feedback flows directly into the digital solution and thus avoids potential dead ends.

The service provider loves and lives agile software development — you and your digital solution benefit from it.

Phase 6 – Product Maturity

Several iterations may be necessary along the way. Sometimes a proof of concept can also be helpful or necessary to evaluate the feasibility of a digital solution. In any case, the result is ready for the next phase.

Phase 7 – Market Launch

Together you have developed a first-class digital solution and are now facing the task of putting it into operation. It does not matter whether it will only be used in-house or is intended for the external market. Even now, you depend on an experienced service provider.

Ideally, they have the necessary expertise to, for example, bring mobile applications into the app stores and the right strategy for later recurring rollouts.

Phase 8 – Operation

Bringing a digital solution to market is one thing. Just as important, however, is the reliable, secure and continuous operation of the solution. You have neither the technical capabilities nor the know-how?

Service providers with many years of hosting experience are the ideal partners here, offering you not only an all-round carefree package but also guaranteeing reliable and secure operation. It is even better if your service provider keeps up with the times. IT is fast-moving, and you need the right and sustainable strategy.

Conclusion

As you can see, quite a few steps are required to reach the final digital solution. Success depends not least on good strategy and planning. This should not deter you but rather encourage you to get started as soon as possible. Waiting can mean a competitive disadvantage for you.

Where and when a service provider can support you depends on what you are able to deliver yourself. If several service providers are involved and the interfaces between them do not work, the process becomes more difficult. The ideal service provider can step in at any stage and lead the digital solution to success together with you.

This is just a small excerpt from our webinar "Mastering Digitalization". We would be happy to provide you with the full recording.