Tackling the digitalization challenge: how to benefit from digitalization in practice

Digitalization has been identified as one of the major trends changing society and business. Digitalization causes changes for companies due to the adoption of digital technologies in the organization or in the operation environment. This paper discusses digitalization from the viewpoint of diverse case studies carried out to collect data from several companies, and a literature study to complement the data. This paper describes the first version of the digital transformation model, derived from synthesis of these industrial cases, explaining a starting point for a systematic approach to tackle digital transformation. The model is aimed to help companies systematically handle the changes associated with digitalization. The model consists of four main steps, starting with positioning the company in digitalization and defining goals for the company, and then analyzing the company’s current state with respect to digitalization goals. Next, a roadmap for reaching the goals is defined and implemented in the company. These steps are iterative and can be repeated several times. Although company situations vary, these steps will help to systematically approach digitalization and to take the steps necessary to benefit from it.