IDC’s new Future of Operations framework calls on companies to become resilient decision makers to achieve digital success

April 27, 2020 - FRAMINGHAM, MASS., USA: To respond to the increasing demand for more custom products and experiences, organizations must pivot from an operational mindset around throughput and efficiency to a market-driven mindset. As IT and Operations Technology (OT) converge, companies will focus on using digital capabilities to build a resilient organization through instrumentation, infrastructure, integration, and insight. To help organizations expand to the OT buyer and become resilient decision makers, International Data Corporation (IDC) has published a new Future of Operations (FoO) framework.

By 2025, intelligent enterprises will see 100% increase in productivity, resulting in 1/2 the response time of peers due to an ability to anticipate market and operational changes and 25% increase in success rates of new product introductions.

The Future of Operations is marked by resilient decision making. IDC defines resilient decision making as having the ability to use all available data and information to rapidly and effectively make decisions that keep your operations aligned with customer expectations and demands.

Traditionally, operational data has been siloed by both technology and organization. Systems have typically been in place to pull critical financial and compliance information from operations by the IT organization. And those same systems push down orders and demands as gathered by the IT systems. It is then up to the operation to have processes and systems in place to turn that flow into an executed business function. The drive to the Future of Operations rests on having the ability to move beyond the push/pull nature of information flow.

"Digital engineering is the piece that companies have been missing to become more resilient and to tightly align operations with their customers' needs," said Kevin Prouty, group vice president of Manufacturing and Energy Insights. "The convergence of IT and OT is the driving force behind digital engineering and the resiliency at its core."

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To succeed in the Future of Operations and adopt the market-driven mindset, IDC is guiding organizations to stay true to these five key tenants:

• Evolve beyond continuous improvement, lean, and six sigma to resiliency and market focus
• Embrace complexity in products, services, and markets while minimizing complications
• Resilience in adapting to changing markets and demands without losing the core operational purpose
• Use digital capabilities to build a resilient organization and operation
• Develop a converged IT and Operations Technology (OT) function in Digital Engineering

Organizations can leverage the Future of Operations framework to structure and scope their future of operations initiatives. Key decision makers will be able to define the technologies and related services essential to the new market-driven operational models. Technology suppliers can use the framework to ensure their solutions are meeting the demands of the enterprises that are and will be undergoing operations transformation efforts.

To learn more about IDC's Future of Operations framework with guidance for the technology buyer and technology vendor or service provider, please read Kevin Prouty's new blog post at https://bit.ly/3eHEWKl.

The IDC report, Digital Engineering and the Future of Operations (IDC #US46217020), reviews in detail the role of resilient decision-making in the Future of Operations, introduces the IDC concept of Digital Engineering, and outlines steps to reaching Digital Engineering maturity. Organizations ready to move forward in building their digital engineering house can look to the IDC report, Future of Operations: Building the House of Resiliency (IDC #US46188320).

About IDC:

International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. With more than 1,100 analysts worldwide, IDC offers global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. IDC's analysis and insight helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based technology decisions and to achieve their key business objectives. Founded in 1964, IDC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of International Data Group (IDG), the world's leading tech media, data and marketing services company. To learn more about IDC, please visit www.idc.com. Follow IDC on Twitter at @IDC and LinkedIn. Subscribe to the IDC Blog for industry news and insights: http://bit.ly/IDCBlog_Subscribe.