IDC’s Future Enterprise Podcast
Future Enterprise brings you thought-provoking and in-depth conversations on the leading edge of technology. Expert-led discussions are focused on how data and technology are reshaping the workplace, applied technology and software. They involve envisioning what the future of remote working will be like, or how organizations need to reshape their industries with digitally-enhanced products and services, or leveraging data for competitive advantages. Our podcast is for business and technology executives and offers applied examples from the field, showing technology trends in action.
Speakers in this Episode
Joseph Pucciarelli, Group Vice President & IT Executive Advisor, IDC
Host of Future Enterprise Podcast
“There are lessons to be learned [from the past] as we consider the innovation and creativity that empowers companies to be successful in the long term.”
Kevin Prouty, Group Vice-President, Energy and Manufacturing Insights, IDC
“When I talk about the future of operations and resilient decision-making, the next words are always operational data-governance, and that is giving people the right data.”
Nimesh Mehta, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at National Life Group
“We need to build teams with diversity in thought and promote intellectual wrestling, so we can get to the right decisions.”
What is the Future of Operations Podcast episode about?
Historically, operations across most industries have been driven by increasing efficiency and reducing waste. The future of operations, however, will behave differently. To meet shifting demands, unpredictable market events and disruptions, it is critical for companies to build a digital resiliency framework. In IDC’s podcast episode on the Future of Operations, we refer to this as a digital house of resiliency. What does this concept mean? The goal of a digitally resilient framework is to connect operations more tightly with the customer. It emphasizes the importance of building digital capabilities to keep enterprises aligned with their customers’ expectations and demands, without losing sight of their core operational focus.
Decision making processes cannot afford delays. Information needs to flow from top to bottom and through middle-management of an organization, making operational data governance a key component to building a resilient decision-making framework.
On this episode of Future Enterprise, proudly presented by IDC, host Joe Pucciarelli, Group Vice President and IT Executive Advisor, sits down with Kevin Prouty, Group Vice-President, Energy and Manufacturing Insights, IDC, to discuss the Future of Operations. They are joined by Nimesh Mehta, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at National Life Group. Nimesh discusses how decision making relies on values and experiences. These two factors can conflict with one another when we try to make decisions. The future of operations needs to involve finding clarity around a problem and shifting focus away from who is right, to what is right. A large part of decision making is using the pieces of the puzzle that you have. You will not know everything and that is ok. Organizations who can listen effectively are usually those better able to make decisions.
Often, members of decision-making teams are using different data; while each model is trying to do the same thing, they can show different outcomes. Uniform data sets enable people to make decisions from the same starting point. To truly be operationally resilient, you must have one single source to the truth.
Resilient decision-making is a new process that involves scenario planning as well as constantly revisiting your decision, to shift or pivot your goals. Team collaboration will be the enabler of better long-term decisions. Today, companies are under-invested in simulation and scenario planning, at the tactical decision-making level. Digital capability technologies, like AI, can support decision-making if people are trained on how to use them effectively. There is a lack in investment in people to enable their understanding of these technologies, and how they can use them.
While data is non-partisan, there remains a human factor to decision-making. People approach decisions differently because they bring different experiences and perspective to it. No matter which digital technologies you implement, you still need people who understand it. You need to have the right mix of people, at the right time, with the right skillsets. This, combined with the right data and digital tools, is the harmony between science-based decisions and art-based decisions. While humans are essential for solving the larger organizational decisions, operational data governance models and AI can support commodity and micro-decisions.
Listen to the Future of Operations podcast episode and subscribe to Future Enterprise to stay up to date with our new episodes.
How can you get started on a digitally-resilient decision-making framework for your operations? IDC’s research and insights can be customized and designed around your specific business goals. How we help.
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