In Digital Transformation The Winner Takes It All

In Digital Transformation The Winner Takes It All
Dražen Tomić

The private sector is very aware of digital tranfromation, and in this area we expect even more aggressive investments in digital transformation, especially because of lack of skilled labour, elimination of the organizational inefficiencies and very clear focus on finding the ways to achieve competitiveness, said Oracle Croatia CEO Marin Tadić in the interview for ICTbusiness.biz

Which sectors are the leaders of the digital transformation in Croatia?

The leaders of the digital transformation in Croatia primarily  come from the financial sector. This sector, for many years now perceives technology not only as an effective means to reduce the costs, but also as a means to increase revenues. Although we witnessed a small investment “set back“ during the financial crisis, it is evident that the financial sector continues to intensively invest in digital transformation. For example, the leading banks are already seriously involved in some of the most complex areas of digital transformation, such as the implementation of advanced predictive analytical solutions, Machine Learning solutions or Big Data solutions. Besides, there are also very measurable business results of those activities.

In the financial sector we also have insurance companies that also invest in the digital transformation faster than average companies and we have to mention telecom market, retail but also the production sector as well. There are also significant developments in the public sector (e.g., health care), but in this sector there is still plenty of room for improvements.

What are Oracle expectations of digital transformation in Croatia and the Adriatic region as well, specifically considering application of technology?

We are witnessing how technology transforms both the industries and the society in general. Such processes are taking place both in Croatia and in the entire region, but it is evident that these processes need to be accelerated to increase competitiveness and economic growth. One of the characteristics of this process: "The Winner Takes It All", means that leaders of the process have a distinct advantage, which is very difficult to overtake. The private sector is very aware of this, and in this area we expect even more aggressive investments in digital transformation, especially because of lack of skilled labour, elimination of the organizational inefficiencies and very clear focus on finding the ways to achieve competitiveness. We believe that the digital transformation will also accelerate the application of cloud technologies.

Which Oracle solutions and technologies a company should apply in the digitization process?

Oracle has grown into an information giant that offers almost entire palette of products; from the hardware to the complete application solutions. both on-premise and in the cloud. Although Oracle has traditionally focused on larger customers with on-premise solutions, simplicity and efficiency of the Cloud concept enables a wide availability of these solutions, even for very small companies. In the process of digital transformation Oracle offers solutions for almost all business segments such as Marketing Management, Service and Sales Mangement, Human Capital Management, ERP, systems for budgeting, financial planning, monitoring etc.

In the technology segment I would single out the Oracle solutions for data management (from relational databases to Big Data solutions), BI & Machine Learning, Security solutions especially for managing access and identification, solutions for integration, development and support etc. I would like to highlight Oracle Engineered Systems, the packaged hardware and software solutions that enable extremely fast implementation with a fantastic price-performance ratio. In general, Oracle can offer solutions that enable companies to focus on business results rather than on prolonged and often painful integration. Speed is crucial if you want to be competitive.

What’s the difference in access to digital transformation between the public and private sector?

The private sector is very fast when opportunities are detected and I think that this sector has reached a very high level of cost optimization and that is much more interested in all ways and solutions that lead to increased efficiency and revenue (monetization). We have the example of one large bank, where complete solution implementation was completed in just four months with very significant financial results in terms of increased sales. In addition, the private sector is more focused on exporting and reaching global markets because to be the biggest in the domestic market is simply not enough.

Although there are excellent examples in the public sector as well such as fiscalization there is still plenty of room for optimization and increase of efficiency in public sector. In this sense, the approach is different.

What are the main challenges for Croatian companies in the process of digital transformation?

A key challenge can be summarized as the human factor and for two main reasons: the reluctance to change and lack of capable personnel to implement these changes. Reluctance to change is something that might be expected but I think that today the situation is much better than a decade ago. Information is available everywhere and we live in a global society; it is hard not to change with such rapid and dynamic changes all around us.

The lack of capable personnel for the implementation of the needed changes is more serious problem that will, I believe, accelerate the implementation of solutions that require less human labour. Primarily I see this as cloud solutions as well as all those solutions that are simple to manage. This is where Oracle sees its opportunity.