Go Digital

Debjit Chakraborty - Global Head - CLOUD ERP Practice

Accordingly to economists this growth is primarily attributable to constant research being undertaken in science and technology. The best example of this old concept of constant exponential growth and that research leads to growth can be explained by Moor’s law, which states that the processing power of a computer chip doubles every two years. This theory gets further substantiated by our mobile phones which hold more computing power than many buildings full of computers in the 1970’s

In today’s world, and as per value investors who had attributed various parameters to define value investing in the past, platforms or platformization (that’s how I put it due to lack of better terminology) is the key. And that’s the reasons which made the world’s renowned investor, Warren Buffet, to put his money in Apple’s stock. And when he did that, he said he was inspired by his granddaughter and her love for that Apple device. So, its more of a lifestyle change and not the old definition of calculating assets, net-worth and company valuation.

So, years back we can recollect ‘Xerox’ had become more or less a noun or verb in English language. And in today’s world ‘’Uber’’ is. (perhaps also other cab aggregators)

Hence ‘Go Digital’ is not on a company’s wish list but it is incorporated and part and parcel of an organization’s day to day business affairs. In today’s world, there is just a thin line of separation between an IT firm and a firm who adopts IT/digital in their day to day processes.

Companies who are doing well and have captured the attention of investors are the ones who have adopted the new digital technologies.

Just to cite a few examples, can someone stop us from earmarking Boeing to be an IT firm or a digital based organization? The robotics installed by Boeing in its factories have helped it crank out 737 airplanes about 60% faster than it did 5 years back(data taken from Fortune Magazine). Hence once considered largely an aerospace and defence manufacturer, Boeing is now undoubtedly a tech company or a digital company

So is the case of Intercontinental Exchange which owns New York Stock Exchange. The company now gets a major chunk of its revenue from its burgeoning market data and analytics business, which has found a lucrative niche in the age of quantitative and Artificial Intelligence driven hedge funds.

Even a Pizza Hut is now taking orders on social media platform and Macdonald’s installing digital self-order kiosks in most of its restaurants

So, the new mantra whether you are a Warren Buffet or a cab aggregator, a manufacturing firm or a pizza shop, is simply…..’’Go Digital’’. And that’s the way to survive and grow, just not a wish list.