E-Business is Not Dead, the Mega-Trend is the Digitization of Processes

The new book by best selling authors Kalakota and Robinson illustrates the latest technology-enabled business process transformations taking place in Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, GM, Express Scripts and Eastman Chemical.

Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) August 28, 2003 -- Successful process digitization is the difference between success and failure in today's business environment according to the new book Services Blueprint: Roadmap for Execution [Addison-Wesley 2003] by Ravi Kalakota and Marcia Robinson with a foreword by Tom Davenport.

The trend is clear: e-commerce ¡ú e-business ¡ú e-services ¡ú multi-channel services. Corporations are relying on process digitization to cut service costs and gain a cost advantage. Evidence of this can be found in high-priority corporate initiatives aimed at digitizing services in order to enable customer and employee self-service. To execute this service digitization strategy, managers must effectively translate business imperatives into -multi-channel services, processes, applications, and infrastructure. This is proving to be very difficult for many companies.

Services Blueprint: Roadmap for Execution reveals how managers can plan, analyze, and execute a coherent services strategy without getting lost in a sea of technical buzzwords. The core questions that anchor the book are: Why are some companies like Wal-Mart better at digitizing their business than others? What differentiates them in terms of execution capabilities? The findings of the book are both fascinating and thought provoking. Some of them include:

- Managers in a variety of industries are wresting with a difficult decision: Digitize or outsource.

- Even the best practice companies have only about 30 percent of their business processes digitized or automated.

- Fragmented enterprise portals are transforming into cross-enterprise, cross-application, and cross-channel service platforms in a variety of industries. Real-time business processes lead to a new set of integration problems

Digitization & Execution Focal Points: Keys to Superior Execution
Amazon.com has digitized the order-to-fulfillment process. Several retailers like Circuit City, Target and Toys-R-Us have accepted the fact that they cannot match Amazon.com's digitization prowess. They are throwing the towel and outsourcing the entire e-channel to Amazon.com. Why did all these powerful retailers fail?

A successful digitization effort is one in which the company treats technology not the sole solution, but as an enabler for improving and integrating business processes. The IT landscape is evolving to support the digitization of business services; however, the online and multi-channel service landscape is littered with myths and untested assumptions. Making the wrong strategic move based on incomplete or incorrect information can be devastating.

After analyzing best-practice companies, this book found that thriving companies have a clear focal point - a precise definition of what your business is all about to focus digitization investments. Wal-Mart (every day low price) is an incredibly powerful focal point. Dell (low cost direct) is also an example of a firm with a clear digitization focal point. The authors found that market leaders have crisp focal points to direct their execution efforts; mediocre ones do not. A well-defined digitization focal point clarifies the age-old questions: Who is the customer? What does the customer value? What initiatives do we need to create that value?

Services Blueprint: Roadmap for Execution argues that effective firms first determine their execution focal point to anchor ongoing digitization efforts and align their digitization projects with their strategy. With a clear target, these firms avoid wasting valuable resources trying to hit multiple moving targets with any prioritization. The authors' research indicates that firms can improve the overall quality of their execution with no additional resources by defining a crisp execution focal point. In addition, they need the discipline to execute and the determination to persist when the going gets tough.

Every Customer is Internet Enabled -- Crafting a Services Blueprint
With the Internet and Web reaching over 800 million customers, companies have to digitize their business processes. As a result of this colossal customer demand-pull, firms are being forced to rethink their IT strategies. As a result, scratch the surface of almost any major business issue and you will find the enterprise blueprint theme - the unifying umbrella for integrating diverse legacy and emerging Internet initiatives.

The move to digitization at all levels of the firm requires a coordinated approach where a combination of technology, governance, and internal process change align to bring about a dramatic leap in effectiveness. The sooner firms accept that digitization is not about technology, the sooner they can embark on drawing up a holistic blueprint, without which efforts will not achieve the intended objectives.

The authors encourage managers to ask: Do we have a framework for describing, communicating and executing a digitization strategy in a consistent way? What does my firm's services blueprint look like? A services blueprint is the sum of a company's focal point, the digital services it intends to deliver, the processes that underlie those services, and the technology applications that the processes draw from. Together these components map a course for creating value. If any one of these components is missing or not in alignment, the ROI will either be negative or less than expected.

Many important problems that plague firms today are complex, involve a cross-functional perspective, and are at least partly the result of past actions that were taken to alleviate them. The authors argue that a blueprint is a more unified way of translating the operational strategy of the firm (derived from the focal point) into specific services digitization initiatives, which are further mapped into technology initiatives.

Services -- How Are Vendors like SAP, Oracle, Sun, IBM, and Peoplesoft Adapting?
The market has changed. CIOs are no longer interested in the nuts and bolts of technology that the various vendors are pushing. They are refocusing on the big picture and attaining more ROI from existing technology investments. The authors anticipate this trend and examine its implications for vendors.

The vendors have been slow in acknowledging this market shift. Only recently, have they begun the massive task of retooling their products to support an enterprise services framework. SAP (with Netweaver and ESA), IBM (with WebSphere), Sun Microsystems (Sun ONE and Services on Demand framework) and Oracle (Business Flow Accelerator) are quickly adapting to facilitate better process digitization.

However, technology frameworks are not going to be enough. Much more careful alignment, integration planning and execution work is needed. Also, significant long-term thinking is required to understand what kind of new customer facing and employee facing self-service platforms are going to be needed. Through a series of case studies ¨C IBM, AT&T and Georgia Pacific -- Services Blueprint: Roadmap for Execution examines this dilemma and presents a balanced perspective of what managers need to know to make effective business-technology alignment decisions.

For more information about the Services Blueprint: Roadmap for Execution, please visit http://www.ebstrategy.com. You may also call 678-339-1236 x206 or email brandon@ebstrategy.com to obtain a review copy of this book.

Reviews of Services Blueprint: Roadmap for Execution
According to Dr. Peter Zencke, Member of the Executive Board, SAP AG, ¡°This book provides managers a strong, practical grounding in the concepts that are critical to understanding the transformation from front-end e-business to cross-enterprise services platforms."

According to Chuck Williams, Chief Technology Officer, Pfizer, Inc "Ravi and Marcia have combined practical research in the "real world" with visionary thinking. I recommend this book to anyone trying to serve customers, suppliers, and employees better."

According to Dr. Frances X. Frei, Assistant Professor, Technology and Operations Management, Harvard Business School "In their back-to-basics approach, Kalakota and Robinson demonstrate how managers can thrive by providing excellent multi-channel services on the front end by taking a cross-enterprise perspective."

About E-Business Strategies, Inc.
E-business Strategies is a technology research and consulting firm specializing in e-business, c-business and m-business. Focused on the next generation of Information Technology, the company offers contract research, customized consulting services, speaking engagements, executive workshops, and in-depth market strategy and positioning. For more information, please visit www.ebstrategy.com.