Digital Transformation Is Only The Beginning: A Company’s Journey
by Joe McKendrick Forbes Contributor
Many business leaders feel they are ready to take on digital transformation. The question is, what do they want to accomplish with new technology-driven approaches beyond simply digitizing existing processes or business lines? Some forward-looking companies, recognizing the pointlessness of going through a digital transformation exercise for the sake of digital transformation, intend to do more with the new possibilities technology opens for them. There needs to be something meaningful and purposeful at the other end — such as promoting socially responsible approaches — that makes it all worthwhile to employees, customers, partners, and the world at large.
This is the course set at Viessman Group, a 104-year-old climate control solution company, which recognized that digital transformation means more than simply adding new technology – it means unwrapping newly acquired resources to promote sustainability, opportunity, and new solutions to vexing problems. “Shape the purpose of your organization, make sure everybody understands it, and make it a deep part of your offerings,” says Max Viessmann, CEO of Viessmann Group. Viessmann, who leads a family-owned company, based in Germany with 13,000 employees across 75 countries, is transforming itself from manufacturing to digital services provider. Initiatives underway include the provisioning of smart devices that communicate health and status from customers’ homes or offices to Viessmann’s monitoring services, research and development into systems that employ alternative energy sources such as hydrogen or solar, and other green initiatives.
