The trend speaks volumes: 62 percent of the large German companies surveyed in 2018 by the digital consultancy Etventure and the market research institute GfK counted the digital transformation its three most important corporate goals1. One year later, this figure had fallen to 54%. But not because of a change in priorities. Rather, 76 percent stated that their problem was the lack of qualified employees with Digital know-how.
Jörg Zeuner, Chief Economist at KfW Bankengruppe, comes to a similar conclusion2. According to him, the obstacles to digitization in SMEs include Lack of IT skills among employees. Its future competitiveness "depends to a considerable extent on its success in digitization."
One thing is certain: Wherever the core competencies of a company lie - if it wants to meet the current challenges, the suitable software expertise in demand. Without software runs today no machineis No modern business process possible. And software-based products often offer the Flexibility which in the Competition makes the decisive difference make.
Mastering growing complexity and remaining adaptable
In addition, a Software product has much shorter development cycles than a machine, not least because customer requirements are constantly changing and the Extremely high pressure to innovate due to global competition is. It must therefore be simple to adapt and easy to maintain. In addition, with increasing networking, the Complexity of the systems. In order to master them, extensive IT expertise and above all Project experience about the entire life cycle of the product. Especially when it comes to the Interaction between machine and software value creation. A potential that companies often underestimate.
Should a company now build up the necessary skills itself, develop them in the sense of the Outsourcing shopping or through a Joint venture for your own company?
Many companies tend to build up the expertise they consider necessary for their future viability themselves. This certainly makes strategic sense in the long term, but it also harbors High risksbecause it costs A lot of timeto find the right path. And therein lies the problem: "time-to-market" and "speed" have long since become critical success factor have become. Hardly any company can afford to take the risk of letting their digital product or project go to waste and losing not only a lot of money, but also time.
The solution: digital partnership
Against this background, "Digital Partnering" on. The ideal digital partner should not only have far-reaching Competencies in the field of pure technical digitization but should also have specialist expertise. Another basic requirement is that the digital partner is already familiar with the Development of new business and marketing models is familiar and the agile culture has in its genes.
Such a partnership often begins with a smaller project for which the digital partner provides the Complete responsibility takes over - for Fixed price. All services are provided in one Service catalog recorded and so-called Service Level Agreements (SLA) agreed. This allows the company to test how reliable the partner is.
The advantage of such a start is obvious: those involved can determine relatively quickly whether the Competencies and the creative Input from the partner meet your own requirements and expectations. And, of course, whether the partner fits in well with the Culture of the company whether the respective value systems fit together and whether the "chemistry" is right.
This is essential for the next step: the Design partnership. Here, the client and digital partner develop new products and concepts together, with the partner taking on the project planning and management. Development and design remain the property of the client, but the partner also invests in the common theme.
The closer and better the collaboration in a design partnership is maintained, the better the people involved get to know each other and appreciate each other's skills. Trust is created. Low staff turnover at the digital partner is therefore also an important building block for joint success.
The goal: product partnership
This forms the basis for a Product partnership placed. The digital partner takes over the Overall responsibility also for more extensive projects. Together with the company partner, he develops far-reaching ideas and concepts, implements them and is also responsible for the operation of products over their lifetime. entire life cycle away.
One thing is certain: The Digital transformation requires agility, team spirit and trust. Because this is the only way to interdisciplinary skills and network the team members in a sustainable and value-adding way Common goal swear in.
Involving a competent digital partner, in whatever constellation, reduces the risks inherent in a digitalization project and spreads them across several shoulders. Not to forget: The client knows its market and the requirements of its customers, while the digital partner brings IT expertise and a culture of agility that is needed in the digital world.
If these competencies are professionally and creatively interlinked, this is an excellent basis for Targeted and investment-safe approach. It allows companies to use their digital Fast, flexible and forward-looking projects to implement. An invaluable advantage in view of the rapid development of technologies and markets. The basis is a maximally transparent processso that companies can continue to work seamlessly with the results in the future, even without a service provider. The time frame and the avoidance of dependencies (e.g. Vendor lock-in) are set out in a contract. At the end of the collaboration, the assets belong to the company, which can continue to work with them seamlessly - even if the digital product partner is no longer on board.
By the way: since its foundation, doubleSlash has lived a corporate culture that is characterized by a high degree of Collaboration, transparency and reliabilityin which the Sharing knowledge and sustainable action are firmly anchored. Values whose importance for the Developing sustainable digital projects is essential.
On this basis, doubleSlash has been cultivating and intensifying close and trusting digital partnerships with its customers for years, including with well-known corporations in the automotive industry, large logistics companies and service providers.
Sources
1 https://service.etventure.de/digitale-transformation-2019-registrierung ^
