Brands are constantly shifting and evolving trying to catch up with today’s increasingly digital world that demands new strategies and techniques to stay relevant in the game. On top of brands making  mark in this digital era is HP with a robust approach towards digital transformation. The Berries interviewed Mathew Thomas, HP’s Managing Director for The Middle East,  to get his insights on how should brands tackle the opportunities and challenges of digital transformation.
BB:

HP has been a pioneering brand in making the move to digital. Can you shed some lights on how HP defines the term ‘digital transformation’?

MT: Digital transformation is the essence of our business, and the way HP does it is by constantly trying to reshape the way people think and how businesses function, in order to grasp new opportunities. With the rapidly evolving industry we’re in, digital transformation plays a significant role in the advancement of capabilities and procedures globally. By reinventing the use of current technologies and keeping track of what customers require, digital transformation can be successfully achieved. Digital transformation is about helping our customers and our partners adapt new technologies to enter new markets, grasp new opportunities, and be more agile. It ranges from office of the future, to revolution in industrial manufacturing to new opportunities for brands to use our graphics products. The big shift that we see for our industry is digital manufacturing – with our 3D portfolio we are looking at transforming this industry.

BB: Digital transformation is taking brands by storm. What are the main pillars of HP’s digital transformation strategy? What were the main challenges HP faced when implementing the strategy?

MT: HP is leading the fourth industrial revolution, as our innovative 3D printing solutions help to transform and revolutionize the $12 trillion global manufacturing market. 3D printing (or additive manufacturing) is turning traditional production models and workflows on their head by replacing just-in-time supply chains with on-the-spot on-demand production. By transforming manufacturing into an on-demand industry, we’re capable of making manufacturing both hyper-global and hyper-local.

The digital industry is innovating at a rapid pace, and keeping up with the changes and trends is our clear focus. We are partnering with leading companies of the industry to continue lead in this evolving landscape.

BB: Chief Information Officers and their departments have been facing dramatic shifts in customers’ expectations. Can you explain how HP was able to leverage digital transformation to elevate their customer experience, moving the customer from being a ‘user’ to being a ‘change agent’?

MT: Our customers have always been the focus of our business. With the speed of advancements in the digital world, it is normal to have such major shifts in customers’ expectations. HP has successfully managed to leverage digital transformation to create customer value and enhance their experiences by listening to what customers want and building solutions around it.

BB: One of the most remarkable flagship projects of HP towards digital transformation is the brand’s alliance with Deloitte to accelerate digital transformation for the global manufacturing industry, combining HP’s 3D printing platform with Deloitte’s unrivaled digital transformation. Can you elaborate on how this project was able to position HP as a “digitally-transformed” brand?

MT: At HP, we truly appreciate collaborating with our partners and other leading organizations, as it always adds value to the outcome delivered to our customers. Collaboration results in increased innovation, accelerated time-to-market, reduced costs and waste, and helps large enterprises compete more effectively in today’s dynamic global economy. HP’s partnership with Deloitte combines our award-winning Jet Fusion 3D Printing solutions and tools, industry-leading partner ecosystem, and heritage of driving digital industrial transformations together with Deloitte’s global client reach and deep manufacturing relationships. HP also benefited from extensive digital operations experience and proven success in supply chain transformation for some of the world’s largest companies. This partnership has helped us maximize the use of all tools and elements to achieve digital transformation, placing us in the position we’re in today where we’re leading on the fourth industrial revolution.

BB: While brands are able to reach consumers throughout many moments in their lives, competition for their attention is becoming stiffer. How can digital transformation help brands stay competitive?

MT: Digital success lies beyond technology. It’s the strategy that truly holds the key to achieving digital transformation and remaining competitive. Digital transformation also lies within the organization itself, and is driven by the processes in place, business models and more importantly, the talent of the people we work with. Today, employees want to work with organizations who are committed to digital progress and transformation. At HP, we work with the best talent to collectively deliver the best solutions and outcomes to our customers. In the 3D printing space, we’re partnering with companies like Jabil, Johnson & Johnson, BMW, SAP and Siemens, to accelerate 3D printing technology and drive our end-to-end manufacturing ecosystem – helping companies transform their business for the future of industry.