Vanguard Magazine

38 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 www.vanguardcanada.com Intelligence (AI) and automation are the ideal tools to find efficiencies and increase productivity, but it takes a thoughtful approach that starts with assessing the current environment and finding the right applications of AI. 5. Adopting Sustainability as the new business imperative: Sustainability is a key business strategy to secure a com- petitive edge. We are helping organiza- tions set and achieve clear sustainability targets through the use of exponential technologies (AI, IoT, Blockchain, Quantum) and Net 0 platforms that enable monitoring, intelligent process- ing, and reporting of activity across the value chain. None of these challenges are insurmount- able. Today's leaders understand the powerful changes that technology, espe- cially cloud, can bring to the organization. Digital transformation is about leveraging those technologies to deliver the next-gen products and services that will support or- ganizational objectives to accelerate and take the organization to the next level. Accelerating innovation To improve the business of defence and operational effectiveness, Western defence organizations are moving beyond proof of concept into implementation. In the US, the Army has unlocked the power of unstructured data for the Stryker vehicle, including maintenance manuals, work or- ders, and senor data, by applying innova- tion-based predictive maintenance iden- tifying previously invisible maintenance issues and predicting vehicle breakdown, and providing a remedy leading to im- proved operational readiness. Bell Flight, another innovative example, is applying predictive maintenance capabilities in its aircraft maintenance process to prevent costly equipment failure for military and commercial rotorcraft. We will continue to see the acceleration of this digital reinvention—driving a more rapid transformation and digitization of the core business innovations in defence and all industries that drive agility and ef- ficiency. Modernization of infrastructures and development processes, embracing multi-hybrid cloud network architectures, and agile development and operations (DevOps) will help prepare and withstand future ups and downs. Many organizations are moving away from the traditional capital investment model of IT—where an on-prem or off- prem data center was essential—to assem- bling a suite of applications and services born on the cloud. An integrated model across an organization's hybrid landscape delivers optimization through a well- planned and defined architecture that en- sures robust networking, resiliency, and security. Moving to a hybrid multi-cloud environment With an integrated operating model in a hybrid environment, leaders can optimize services, operations, and management across both legacy and cloud environments while accelerating time to business value. Without it, the digital transformation ef- forts may be stalled and may add unnec- essary complexity to the organization and increased operational costs. These leaders have found that "building new" accelerates time to value – and they want to unlock the same value from their legacy environment which has the data and insights needed to maximize internal and external engagement and improve employee experience. They need a way to streamline this "two-speed" world into a single operating model – quickly, simply, and cost-effectively. We have found that organizations with a cohesive strategy for integrating legacy and born on the cloud are finding the greatest success in achieving digital transformation and gaining real-time insights. They know that an integrated IT operating model can increase the value to their business and re- duce time to market. These leading orga- nizations understand the need for a digital transformation strategy that supports new and emerging technologies, encourages a growth mindset and innovation forward culture, addresses regulatory requirements, and mitigates risks in the environment – while aligning with the business need to reduce costs, accelerating organizational capabilities and improving operations. For example, Honeywell Process Solu- tions (HPS) seamless VMware integration to IBM Cloud enabled HPS to completely replicate their VMware-based Open Vir- tual Engineering Platform environment and provided it to their customers to use in their own projects and deploy in a mat- ter of hours. HPS has industry solutions for heavy industry with large equipment assets including marine, oil and gas, min- ing, chemics, and more. The processes involved in developing control products involve a high degree of collaboration between HPS and its cus- tomers. With this new environment in place, HPS customers can build and test engineering processes in a highly reliable and security-rich cloud-based environ- ment. Similarly, this could be applied in a defence context. To optimize the newest technologies on cloud, cost-efficiently, organizations need to understand that successful digital trans- formation of the enterprise requires more than just new technology. A successful shift to an integrated operating model also brings swift and comprehensive change to processes and people – specifically, how technology services are delivered and man- aged, and by whom. People are a critical key to success. In defence, in addition to creating a digital culture and mindset, it is recognized that personnel often have high levels of technology exposure in their lives. This is a real decision criterion for the next generation and the Canadian market is competing for the same talent. They want to work with the latest technology to pro- tect Canada making digital transformation a retention and recruitment opportunity. A lot of questions need to be addressed by organizations - addressing the skills gap that arises when employees must learn the new world when they were trained on legacy, how do you change your processes to accommodate the new technology, what processes are reinvented as you move from traditional program structures to smaller, agile processes? Organizations need partners that can step in to supply and manage technol- ogy, people, skills, and processes needed DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION We will continue to see the acceleration of this digital reinvention—driving a more rapid transformation and digitization of the core business innovations in defence and all industries that drive agility and efficiency.

• Cover