By Jim Morrish, Founding Partner, Transforma Insights
Digital transformation (DX) is a type of disruption. It will unlock new possibilities in business models, value propositions and operational efficiency. Competitive dynamics will ensure that entire industries must transform to become a market leader or keep pace with market leaders, or face loss of market share. As ever, this kind of disruption is not risk-free.
In a recent Digital Transformation in Industry White Paper we outlined the IIC’s approach to DX, the key technologies underpinning DX, and the first steps for adoption (as illustrated below).
Figure 1: First Steps for Adoption Framework (Source: Transforma Insights)
At the end of this sequence is a need to ‘Plan for deployment’. Planning for deployment with Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and wider DX, is significantly different to more traditional software and solution development environments. In general, with any IIoT project, there are more constraints (both technical and operational), more dependencies (between technologies and vendors), and more opportunities to under-deliver. There are, of course, often significant opportunities to over-deliver in terms of impact to a business, and the setting of a strategic IIoT vision at a technical and operational level during the deployment of any specific project.
The key first step to avoid the pitfalls, and position for upside benefits, is to undertake a rigorous procurement exercise. This is exactly the area that the IIC’s RFP Toolkit focuses on. The toolkit includes six key modules:
- Challenges, risks and mitigation, identifying and discussing some of the key areas that can potentially compromise the success of a project, and how to combat these.
- Project planning, including discussion of scope setting, and the overall RFP process.
- RFP creation, including discussion of requirements management for IIoT RFPs, and how to translate them to an effective RFP document.
- IIC RFP Wizard, an interactive tool that allows technology adopters to profile the complexities of a specific project and ensures that the information that a technology vendor needs is included in an RFP.
- RFP distribution & vendor selection, including guidance for adding functional requirements and supporting a vendor Q&A process.
- Expert advice & discussion, including identification of pitfalls and best practices. Ongoing discussion on the RFP topic can be found at the IIC’s Community Forum.
The RFP Toolkit is part of a wider Resource Hub proposition, including assets that help end-users to develop technology concepts, and to adopt new emergent technologies in the most effective and impactful way.