Speeding up digital business operations

To address the challenges posed by a fast-evolving landscape, technology companies are bringing an integrated approach to digital transformation

Digital transformation of business operations is happening at a rapid pace. From logistics to hybrid work to delivery models, the adoption of technology is happening faster than many companies are able to cope with.  
 

More importantly, different sectors — and indeed different units within large companies — are moving at varying speeds. To address the challenges posed by this fast-evolving landscape, technology companies are bringing an integrated approach to digital transformation. 
 

Siemens has strengthened the focus of its strategy to deliver technology and related services for global enterprises and SMEs. In its new initiative, Xcelerator, Siemens has created a new open business platform That will deliver business objectives in an integrated manner. The solution will be created by a curated collection of technologies for the specific objective. These technologies would be from Siemens’ own stable and from its certified partners. “No one single technology company has all the solutions to all the needs of enterprises. We have to work in an open and collaborative way,” says Peter Koerte, chief technology and strategy officer at Siemens.
 

For founders and business leaders, dealing with multiple teams of technologists is a difficult task. The high level of obsolescence in technology further complicates decisions on investing in technology. With an integrated approach, the technology service provider can choose a configuration of solutions tailored for specific needs. 
 

An integrated approach is especially important in any large-scale project. A port, for example, has to manage energy, cyber security, power to ships and smart maintenance. Specialist technology companies can provide solutions for each of these areas, but no one company has the ability to integrate all the elements with high efficiency. Dr Koerte says that the new strategy of Siemens addresses such issues. “We are building interoperability between our technologies and partner systems. Siemens believes that such an approach will create a seamless flow of data across functions and processes.” 

With millions of IoT sensors in manufacturing and logistics, an integrated approach will bring deep insights into the operations of the company. Managers will be able to get real-time information from different sources without worrying about data protocols. 

The open platform also means that the Xcelerator will allow vendors to upgrade to newer versions of technologies for its clients. Since the system does not lock in to vendors, Siemens says that the Xcelerator can switch to new tools with great agility. 

The Siemens Xcelerator strategy is the first of its kind which will apply across industry, buildings, grids and the mobility sector. Technology will be far more closely linked to business strategy in this evolving approach. Instead of shopping for artificial intelligence- or blockchain-based solutions, companies can seek a business solution which is agnostic of technology. The common thread will be an open platform, seamless data flow and interoperability. 

Bengaluru-based data centre company NxtGen had used an open platform solution by Siemens to improve operations. While operating a colocation data centre, it was important to ensure maximum up-time for customers. Managing a complex infrastructure of 80,000 servers and to sustain its competitive advantage for the long run, NxtGen turned to Siemens to create an integrated efficiency model for high performance. 

The Siemens solution helped monitor all disciplines across the data centre — from fire safety, physical security to energy management and HVAC monitoring. This allowed NxtGen to optimise energy efficiency, increase staff productivity and improve sustainability. 

The Siemens Xcelerator will bring even more efficiency to such projects in the future. The new strategy implies that the management of technology is moving up the value chain. This will help corporate leadership in increasing the implementation of digitalisation.