Digital Transformation Can Seem Overwhelming — Here’s How to Get Started
Think big, act small and move fast to make IT transformation a reality within your organization.
Digital transformation initiatives frequently involve the Internet of Things because it provides significant amounts of new data necessary to achieve those benefits. One IoT source for new information is enhanced video surveillance: Retailers use these systems for security, but they can quickly and cost-effectively be extended with video analytics to support digital transformation applications, such as understanding the number, gender and age of shoppers who stop to browse a display.
This example highlights the guiding principle CDW uses when helping organizations develop successful digital transformation strategies: think big, act small and move fast. The retailer is thinking big about how it can better understand which displays resonate with shoppers and how many of them go on to purchase those products. It’s acting small and moving fast by leveraging its existing surveillance investment, thus minimizing the cost, risk and lead time of this digital transformation initiative.
Even a small initiative is highly valuable when it proves the ROI for bigger, related digital transformation projects that follow. A successful small initiative can provide the savings or additional revenue to fund those bigger projects. But none of that can happen if the organization doesn’t start somewhere.
Use Case: Tapping Data to Make Your Workplace More Efficient
Whether it’s a retail chain, school district, municipality or manufacturer, every organization wants to use less electricity to save money, reduce its carbon footprint or both. That’s thinking big.
There are several ways those organizations can then act small and move fast. For example, a person sitting in a meeting produces about 350 BTUs of heat. Existing surveillance cameras or room-booking software can use the number of attendees to adjust the room’s heat or air conditioning accordingly. This saves money versus allowing attendees to set the temperature manually — and then depart without remembering to turn everything up or down afterward.
The surveillance cameras also can determine how many of those who RSVP’d actually attended — or whether anyone showed up. This data is invaluable for determining if the organization needs to spend more on real estate and conference room equipment, or whether if the current resources are being underutilized.
The Stepping Stones for Digital Transformation
These are just a few examples of small, low-cost, easily achievable projects that lay the foundation — including financially — for big digital transformation initiatives. Hundreds of CDW clients in dozens of verticals successfully applied our think big, act small, move fast principle to jump-start their digital transformations.
These organizations also leverage CDW’s expertise in their verticals and our relationships with hundreds of vendors. All of this enables us to help clients overcome common digital transformation hurdles such as technological and departmental silos. For example, we know how to knit together disparate HVAC, surveillance and conferencing systems to create smart, automated buildings that maximize productivity and efficiency.
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