Representative End User Clients
Representative Automation Clients
Representative Software Clients
After a busy summer, Digital Transformation Council members are back and they are hungry for information. This became apparent at a recent member meeting focused on optimizing production operations with asset performance management or operations performance management solutions using modern, 21st century software. It seems the whole industry is in a spooky season for digital transformation, a kind of quiet period that has many (most?) suppliers working in the background to modernize their software offering, but not yet ready to talk about it publicly. In the meantime, Council members want to share their Digital Transformation stories. Some will just be starting out, others will be farther along, but it's always helpful to learn from peers and across industries.
Council Chronicles
The member meeting returned to a topic that arose in an earlier member meeting: How could members learn from the real-world digital transformation experiences of other members? After some discussion, several members volunteered to share their stories in an upcoming meeting. Dubbed Council Chronicles, these user stories will be the focus of the next meeting, which will be held (online) on December 11. What better way to learn and share than by hearing directly from your fellow council members? For our end-of-the-year online meeting, three Digital Transformation Council members will walk through their digital transformation efforts. What did they choose to do and why? Who was involved and what solution was deployed? How is it working out and what lessons have been learned along the way?
Members Share Concerns About Software Stability
This meeting's topic, Optimizing Production Operations Using 21st Century Software, provoked a lot of discussion as members shared their questions and experiences. After some opening comments by one of the Council's Steering Committee members, (Mike Dudzic, General Manager, Process Automation at ArcelorMittal Dofasco) a presentation by ARC explored the trends and issues involved in moving from a familiar legacy software environment built on monolithic or n-tier applications running on client-server systems to 21st century cloud-based software platforms and microservices-based apps. Members expressed concern about how to manage the potential complexity arising from a new software model, and how to keep things stable so as not to disrupt operations. They shared ideas about how to cope, and discussed how to proceed in an environment where some facilities are eagerly embracing a modern approach, while other facilities are reticent and don't seem to want to change.
Recommendations for Users
Many users are beginning to comprehend the new possibilities, but what can be done today to prepare? Several important things. Users need to think through the new organizational/software support requirements they will need as software models and architectures begin to shift. They should press their current suppliers for roadmap plans in order to get a better sense of the timing of the change. They should be on the lookout for innovative solutions/suppliers that might be a better fit for their evolving needs than what may be planned by their current suppliers. And, recognizing that they will be much nimbler and more agile after transition, they should lobby software suppliers to move quickly.
Join Us
The next online Digital Transformation Council members meeting will take place Tuesday, December 11, at 11AM ET/8AM PT. New end-user members are welcome to attend. We are all looking forward to this one!
To learn more or to join the community, click here. Users will also want to attend the annual Digital Transformation Council member meeting, which will take place in Orlando, Florida on February 4 at the ARC Industry Forum.
The Digital Transformation Council is a collaborative end-user organization organized by ARC at the behest of our clients. The Council enables industry, energy, and public sector professionals driving or impacted by digital transformation to keep abreast of the many emerging technologies and business trends, to learn from others on similar journeys, and to leverage these trends and technologies to achieve transformational growth. The Council is a place for users to connect, collaborate, learn and share with peers who are digitizing and transforming their organizations as wells as others impacted by those efforts.