Latest Research Report: Digital Tools Themselves Do Not Resolve Data Connectivity Issues

Author: Lawrence Benson, Vice President of Lifecycle Solutions Strategy, Hexagon’s Asset Lifecycle Intelligence division

Adopting new digital tools and technologies is being promoted as the most effective way forward for organizations looking to increase productivity, performance and more. And while this sentiment is largely true, there is often some context missing. 

In our recent industry report on digital connectivity, we spoke to 400 global C-suite executives and leaders and 56% indicated that their digital transformation efforts have not yet returned the expected value. 

To reap the benefits of these digital tools, it’s not enough just to implement them. In fact, this can often cause more complications and delays. Read on to learn more.

The Rising Adoption of Digital Tools  

Our research shows that 70% of the leaders surveyed agreed that their business had stepped up their use of digital tools and data sources over the past year. Investments into these solutions are being made largely to improve visibility into assets and the knock-on benefits of this capability.  

Visualization dashboards, digital twins, knowledge graphs, digital thread technology, 3D digital models and more are key parts of this digital toolkit. 

The Complexity of Going Digital  

Yet, these solutions are often not shaping up to expectations in terms of return on investment. Over half of those we questioned claimed the expected value has not yet been returned. But why? 

Oftentimes, the adoption and integration of digital tools is actually creating more work in the long run for teams. Digital tools have their own unique features, but they frequently lack connectivity to each other. This can have a negative impact on multiple challenges encountered by businesses, including: 

• Financial Performance and Stakeholder Alignment - The numbers show that the added complexity of multiple digital tools has impacted stakeholder alignment and the financial performance of organizations. Of those who increased their number of tools over the past 12 months, 66% reported a negative impact on stakeholder alignment, compared to 53% of those who did not make changes. 

• Safety and Cyber Security Concerns - According to our report findings, 66% of leaders who increased digital tool usage over the past year raised cybersecurity as a concern, compared with 53% of those who haven’t added more tools. 

• Project Overruns and Missed Milestones - Time and cost inefficiencies as a result of poor data connectivity also stood out in our report. 75% of those who increased digital tool usage over the past year said that missed project milestones had a ‘detrimental impact’ on their organization. Only 57% of those who did not increase digital usage could say the same. 

 What’s The Solution? 

Without a digitalization strategy in place and investment into best practices for data integration, digital tools may only complicate and burden current operations. 

It’s not enough to just have the latest technology. How is this technology being supported? An organization needs to adopt a digital maturity journey to make the most of its digital tools. 

Getting systems to talk with one another will create more accessible, relevant and actionable insights. This is ultimately what will help industrial organizations to finally overcome the common challenges they face.