The Digital Battle — Viscosity of Data

May 18, 2022

The essence of the digital transformation journey is understanding trade-offs, and today’s digital battle offers clear points for each side of the argument.  We all want the digital thread to work and data to flow without interruption, so where is the hold up? On the latest Digital Battle, Craig Brown and Mark Pendergast tackle the viscosity of data and why it doesn’t flow like it should.  Is it the people or the technology that slows the processes down?  Craig immediately attributes the hold up to people, Mark argues that the technology isn’t in place to make things happen effectively, and with that, another heated digital battle is under way.  

 

On today’s podcast, you will learn:

Craig blames the people

• Data flow is impeded by people because of the differing opinions about which tools are the best ones. 
• The unwillingness of people to conform to what matters to the company is what holds up the flow of data. 
• If the data is stuck and won’t move, it’s because of the people. 
• People try too hard to perfect their designs before they are willing to share data. 

 

Mark argues against the technology

• People are trying to get their jobs done, and have to share information with others to do so. 
• If data is stuck, it’s because of the technology. 
• The tools are not mature enough to effectively communicate with other tools. 
• The incompatibility of standards limits productivity. 
• Maturity-based, phased release isn’t sufficiently supported by technology. 

 

Is there a third player to blame? 

• Processes might be the real culprit in this digital battle. 
• Experience has taught too many people to hold onto their data rather than share it. 
• Processes marry people to the technology and in many cases, is the true point of failure. 

 

The impacts of poor flow

• Data isn’t able to be reused because it’s not optimally formatted. 
• Change cycles greatly contribute to the lack of viscosity. 
• Time to market is affected by poor flow. 
• Quality is critically impacted by poor flow. 

 

How can flow be improved?

• On the people side, people need to emphasize communication about the latest data. 
• Quality checks need to be in place at every checkpoint. 
• Understand how your widget fits into the bigger picture and how it is used by others. 
• On the technology side, data flow needs to be designed to work. 
• A plan to execute free data hand off from end-to-end would greatly improve flow. 
• Data governance cannot be static- data flow governance is needed to make data flow.
• Metrics and rewards need to measure flow. 

 

 Key areas of value for viscosity of data

• Clear measures need to be established to identify reuse of data. 
• Consumers willingness to pay for a product is really what matters most. 
• Mainstream flow has many inefficiencies that need to be addressed. 
• Vendors need to insist on new tools that fit with existing tools. 
• The CAD to PLM to ERP chain needs to be refined end-to-end. 

 

Continue the conversation with us within the Digital Enterprise Society Community at DigitalEnterpriseSociety.org.

 

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