Digital transformation maturity and the team model : fuelling growth in and by IT consulting business

Digital technologies do not transform businesses, people do. Digital transformation (DT) is used to describe the fundamental realignment of business due to digitalisation. Many heavy engineering companies geared towards process-driven manufacturing of hardware have chosen to rely on external expertise to help them realise new business models through software solutions and technologies. In contrast to some years back, IT consultancies are no longer in the business of providing ‘pairs of hands’, but coherent solutions developed by teams of experts. This thesis wishes to analyse the current state and the elements of the offering defined as a team model, with the purpose of looking into the future and providing insight into potential improvements, so as to fuel growth. The theoretical section explores the concepts of digital transformation and Industry 4.0 in the context of heavy engineering. The team model is then introduced and analysed against the theories of team composition. Based on the literature, a conceptual framework is constructed. The empirical part consists of gathering data in the form of semi-structured interviews and questionnaires to gain an understanding of the landscape the commissioning company operates in. The data is validated by a comparative study between two heavy engineering companies, both clients of the commissioning IT consultancy. The study then proposes DT maturity index for measuring and acting on. To conclude, the thesis investigates certain parameters of the team model, which can be adjusted to respond to the issues raised by the DT maturity index. The objective of this study is to discover whether measuring the DT maturity of clients of IT consultancies can improve the implementation of the team model and consequently add value to all parties concerned. In conjunction with the applied approach of the research, this thesis puts to the test the notion that while DT might be an elusive concept, a consistent, structured, and people-centric change management yields the most sustainable results