Latest Research Report: Digital Tools Themselves Do Not Resolve Data Connectivity Issues

There’s a lot of talk about the wonderful benefits of digital transformation.  

Adopting new digital tools and technologies is promoted as the most effective way forward for organizations looking to increase productivity, performance and more. And while this sentiment is largely true, that promise is missing some critical context.

To reap the benefits of digital tools, it’s not enough just to implement them. In fact, this “see it and forget it” approach often causes more complications and delays.  

In our recent industry report on digital connectivity, we spoke to 400 global C-suite executives and leaders in the manufacturing, power, oil and gas, and chemicals sectors. In this study, 56% of the leaders surveyed indicated that their digital transformation efforts have not yet returned the expected value.

The solution? Companies must also plan to invest time and resources into the adoption and best practices for these tools. Data access, connectivity and continuity, for example, must be maintained for digital thread technology to work effectively. Read on to learn more.

The Rising Adoption of Digital Tools

To tackle a host of rising challenges and pressures, industrial organizations are turning to cutting-edge digital tools and technologies for support. Our research shows that 70% of the leaders surveyed agreed that their business had stepped up their use of digital tools and data sources over the past year.  

Investments into these solutions are being made largely to improve visibility into assets and unlock downstream operational benefits. Of these tools, visualization dashboards were the most used, with 76% of respondents claiming they were being used often in their organization. Yet, others are also at play including digital twins, knowledge graphs, digital threads, 3D digital models and more.

Digital Tools Increasing but Causing More Complexity

Although impressive, these solutions are often not shaping up to expectations in terms of return on investment. Over half of those we questioned claimed the expected value has not yet been returned. But why?

Oftentimes, the adoption and integration of digital tools actually creates more work in the long run for teams. Digital tools each have their own unique features, but they frequently lack connectivity to each other. This means that time needs to be spent manually gathering this data from multiple sources for reporting. Increasing the number of tools being used can therefore have a negative impact on multiple challenges encountered by businesses, and for many, the effort required to connect and maintain these tools is not scalable Both financial and cybersecurity considerations must be taken into account here. Read on as we explore this further.  

Financial Performance and Stakeholder Alignment  

The numbers show that the added complexity of multiple digital tools has impacted stakeholder alignment and the financial performance of organizations.  

Of those who increased their number of tools over the past 12 months, 66% reported a negative impact on stakeholder alignment, compared to 53% of those who did not make changes. This worsening of performance is largely a result of disconnected systems and siloed data from these tools.

The lack of data availability also affects financial operations and goals. For example, 62% of experts in the survey agreed or strongly agreed with the statement ‘The lack of available data on asset performance is impacting the financial performance of the business.’  

Cybersecurity Concerns

These blind spots in data connectivity are also raising cybersecurity concerns. According to our findings, 66% of leaders who increased digital tool usage over the past year raised cybersecurity as a concern, compared with 53% of those who haven’t added more tools. So, how can teams be prepared for potential risks (in the physical world and online) when the data that will help to combat them is not optimized, accessible or transparent? New tools and technologies can help to improve cybersecurity concerns, but only when integrated with best practices in mind – practices that secure safe, secure and reliable data. Developing digital maturity within an organization is the only way forward here.

Project Overruns and Missed Milestones

Our report also highlighted time and cost inefficiencies caused by poor data connectivity. After all, adding new equipment to a workflow is not simple. It requires plenty of resources and initial investment, which can often be unrewarded.  

Running over budget or missing key milestones is always, and will remain, a key challenge for industrial players. Yet, introducing more digital tools can exacerbate existing challenges. 

75% of those who increased digital tool usage over the past year said that missed project milestones had a ‘detrimental impact’ on their organization. Only 57% of those who did not increase digital usage could say the same.  

So, What’s The Solution?

On the one hand, organizations are aware that digital innovation will be the driving force behind many future developments. Yet, on the other hand, implementing digital tools (correctly) to achieve this is not easy. Without a clear digitalization strategy and a focus on integrating and contextualizing data, these tools may end up complicating operations rather than improving them. With the right approach, contextualized data unlocks new ways of working, enabling teams to operate more efficiently, make faster decisions and drive better outcomes across the business.

In short, it’s not enough to just have the latest technology. How is this technology delivering greater visibility and insights to your defined areas of criticality?  

An organization needs to adopt a digital maturity journey to make the most of its digital tools. Technology and digital methodologies that aim to centralize data and support data integration need to be introduced. But how can organizations address and advance digital maturity? Here a five key ways to start:  

• Address legacy systems and manage change. Old software often does not support the infrastructure needed for the tools and technologies securing digital maturity.  
• Prioritize scalability to ensure that a digital thread can be supported, and grow, in the years to come. 
• Leverage solutions at the right stage for your business. Start with making changes from where you are, gradually connecting more systems, as it makes sense for your organization.
• Harness platform-based architecture so you have a ‘single pane of glass’ that reflects contextualized data from many sources.  
• Use AI once your digital thread foundation can support it. This will unlock new efficiencies and drive forward data analysis.  

Additionally, working with a partner with know-how, and getting systems to talk with one another will create more accessible, relevant and actionable insights. This is ultimately what will help industrial organizations to finally overcome the common challenges they face.  

Check out our Data Connectivity and Visibility: The Competitive Edge in Industry report, for more insights on this topic.