8. Information Technology as an Enabler of Digitisation

Information technology as a corporate function has a key role to play in the digital transformation. This organisation is not only in demand as an advisor and supporter of all departments during the transition, but must also provide the existing technical IT environment and then operate it cost-efficiently and securely, as well as comprehensively develop itself further. This challenge requires a “two-speed IT” that implements a holistic IT strategy based on the digitisation roadmap as a working basis and also establishes a method for evaluating the benefit aspect of IT for business processes. A “software-defined environment”, i.e. the complete flexibilisation of the IT infrastructure, is the basis for contemporary microservice-based apps using open source solutions and also for AI-based projects. The established architectures and technologies must be modernised or replaced by new solutions in order to meet the requirements of the departments flexibly and efficiently. Financing this transformation can be achieved through savings resulting from successful computing centre consolidations, application harmonisations and standardisations in service delivery. In this context, security is seen as a high priority for business IT as well as for shop floor and vehicle IT, but without becoming an obstacle to new initiatives such as API commercialisation. This situation is looked at in the following with a focus on business IT, while the IT installed in the vehicle with control units for various functions such as air conditioning or distance control, as well as the plant IT with its field bus systems, plant and robot controls, are discussed in passing.