Gartner introduced the concept of a “business moment” in 2013 and expects these moments to occur more frequently as enterprises migrate from today’s world to the digital business world.
Business moments are specific transient opportunities that illustrate how people, businesses and the Internet of Things interact, represented by untapped opportunity and competition that can rapidly change the dynamics across industries.
However, moments are short in duration (even seconds or fractions of a second), depending on the nature of the opportunity. These moments are expected to occur more frequently as enterprises migrate to the digital business world.
It is predicted that by 2020, more than 7bn people and businesses, and at least 30bn devices, will be connected to the internet. With people, businesses and things communicating, transacting and even negotiating with each other, a new world comes into being the world of digital business.
For example, a smart house could detect when a room has to be repainted and collaborates with the homeowner and the local retailer to identify, select and obtain the necessary supplies and services to get the room repainted. The retailer’s system then solicits bids from painters on behalf of the consumer. Or a laundry machine may chime in when detergent is running low.
Business moments are important, because they will force enterprises to rethink the role they play in a value stream. This will illustrate a wide variety of possibilities and players and help companies envision and design new businesses that integrate people, businesses and things to do things not possible five years ago. The trademark of a digital business will be the ability to spot these opportunities, however fleeting.
“Digital business will break down traditional barriers between industry segments, creating completely new value chains and business opportunities that may not be filled by incumbent players,” said Jorge Lopez, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. “It will also challenge existing industry boundaries and challenge the dominance of leading players in an industry and cause them to rethink the businesses they are in.
“Most will see digital business as a simple extension of an enterprise technology or an e-business past. Gartner calls this ‘digitisation,’ or using technology to automate existing processes. However, that is no longer enough,” said Lopez. “To compete in digital business, enterprises must digitalise their models, and rethink their value in a world of people, business and things.”
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