Is your company ready for digitalization?

Abstract

We live in exciting times. The digital revolution has just begun and things are rapidly changing. Buzzwords like “Industry 4.0”, “digitalization” and “smart” are often used to describe the development that is happening around us. All types of businesses and industries are affected by this transformation. Robotics, sensors, artificial intelligence (AI), etc., these are just some of the topics that is relevant in the new ways of doing business. But what does digitalizing of a business mean? And how can a business become or stay competitive in this new era? Many businesses are curious about the development that is happening, but do not know how this affects their business, and therefore seek guidance. In many cases a survey or a scorecard would be enough to point them in the right direction. This was the main cause behind the company Draga AS to provide this thesis, based on companies asking them if their business is ready for digitalization. Draga AS wanted a scorecard they could provide as a quick first step. In order to create a scorecard that could guide businesses and organizations towards digitalization, the first step of the research is to understand what digitalization means. Terms like digitizing, digitalizing and digital transformation are all important in this context, and to understand the connection between them as much as the differences between them, is not always easy. Technology trends do also have a major impact on what can be digitalized and what cannot. And it is essential to know what kind of possibilities the new technology brings. Blockchain, IoT, Big Data, Cloud, and AI are some of the technologies that would bring benefits to many businesses that have not already implemented them into their organization. The scorecards have to be something new and a unique solution that could be of valuable use for businesses and organizations. In the research, it was found that consulting companies were already providing surveys and other tools to measure the digital maturity. Therefore the scorecard had to bring a new approach that not yet was provided. The answer was to divide a business or organization into departments that are likely to appear. This way, the scorecards can be specified but still simple enough so that anyone can understand what is meant and confusions can be avoided. Each department is divided into different sections that consists of different responsibilities, and thereafter scored from level 1 to level 5, whereas level 5 is the highest. The result of the scorecards was presented in an excel-file where you have eight different (tabs) sheets, starting with an introduction, thereafter six different scorecards and last a total score. The total score also gives you an automated calculated level of digitalization for the business. The purpose of the scorecard is to give an insight in where your business is today, related to digitalization, and where your business will benefit the most from putting in more resources into digitalization. For many businesses and organizations, it is important to start the digital transformation. The purpose of this thesis is to provide businesses and organizations with a tool that can help them analyze where they are when it comes to digitalization and point them in the right direction.