On October 27, the 2023 China Enterprise Digital Transformation Summit and SIE User Conference with the theme of "AI driving digital intelligence innovation" was held in Wuhan. On the day of the conference, Yu Hongtao, the general manager of SIE Information Digital Consulting Center, delivered a keynote speech entitled "Thoughts on Building the Top Architecture of Digital Transformation", analyzed the current situation of "confused and forward" commonly faced by enterprises in the current digital transformation, interpreted the "correct posture" of digital transformation action, and shared how to make the transformation go on a smooth path through "stones from other mountains".

Yu Hongtao believes that we are currently in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) era. Due to the increase of external uncertainties, the development trend of the industry is difficult to predict, and technology is rapidly iterating, directly causing the final consumer demand and competitive landscape to change rapidly. For enterprises in this situation, it is even more difficult to formulate a strategy that can be used to guide five-year actions.

Throughout the top manufacturing companies such as Huawei, Midea, and Sany, there is a clear consensus on strategic goals. As leaders in digital transformation, they seamlessly integrate their company strategy with digital strategy and fully integrate their business and technology to support strategic implementation.

Previous generations planted trees, while later generations avoided pitfalls. Most companies will learn from the digital experience of top companies, but they still face many challenges on the path of digital transformation. Regarding this, Yu Hongtao stated:

Setting a lofty goal is only the first step. In terms of business, it is necessary to consider what kind of capability structure is needed to support the implementation of strategies. Capability is a combination of elements that can achieve goals and produce results. Under the premise of resource constraints, enterprises need to have clear thinking on which capability to prioritize development and how to build it in stages from organizational design, business design, technical support, and data governance.

In terms of technology, the application of cloud computing, big data, and artificial intelligence has caught the attention of enterprises. Any technology is just a means to achieve digital transformation. Blindly following the trend should be avoided, and it is necessary to follow the strategic goals of the enterprise itself. We have systems that others have, but there are many problems. They use better systems than ours, and the same ERP system is SAP system, but the application effect is vastly different. Such confusion still exists widely.

Therefore, Yu Hongtao believes that the important factor why most enterprises repeatedly fail in the process of digital transformation is that they have a digital concept, but do not take many practical actions. They may have taken the right actions initially, but there is no consensus or persistence.

After discussing macro strategy, let's talk about implementation. Strategy needs to be supported by business capabilities, and the main components of capabilities are processes, systems, and data. Yu Hongtao believes that there are three common understandings among current enterprises:

But processes, systems, and data are inseparable. A good ERP implementation must emphasize process optimization before solidifying the system and conducting data governance work. However, we also know that a large number of ERP implementations are aimed at launching system functions. If the project budget of 8 million is compressed to 3 million, where can there be process optimization and data governance.

Regarding this, Yu Hongtao elaborated from the perspectives of process, system, and data, and stated that separating these three aspects for any construction will not be effective, and a three pronged approach must be taken.

如果说流程、系统和数据是让业务能力强化的硬性要素，那组织、文化与人则是让业务能力得以充分发挥的软性要素。

数字化时代的组织，暂不讲敏捷组织、扁平化组织等数字化转型后公司运作的组织形式，为了做好数字化转型，必须思考要建立什么样的数字化组织去负责推动转型工作：要有由各部门主官参与的决策组织，要有常设办公室负责推动设计、项目管控、绩效以及文化宣导，要有流程管理、数据管理组织，要有懂IT的业务人员参与。

数字化时代，过去稳定的经营环境已经一去不复返，企业要在激烈竞争、变化剧烈的环境中能够做大做强，要建立变革文化，通过不断变革，适应外部变化；要建立数据文化，要尊重事实以数据为根本，才能做出更好地应对外界变化的决策，从数据中找洞察，从数据中找价值；要建立迭代文化，能小步快跑、快速反馈用实践去验证可行性，而不是理论论证。

数字化转型中，对人才的要求是懂技术、懂业务、懂数据，IT懂业务、业务懂IT，要想做好数字化转型的人才支撑，这些岗位还是需要的……这些岗位都有一定的能力要求，但能力有了，还需要有意愿，也就是我们常说的组织活力，这需要的是合理的绩效评价和有效激励。

面对各种困惑，企业该如何行动？在每一项没做到的内容上多一些行动、多一些坚持，就可以取得一定的成效，但摆在眼前的事情多如牛毛、纷繁杂乱，如何理清头绪、确定目标、找准节奏，我们建议开展顶层规划，划清阶段，并形成共识。

从大阶段上，顶层规划确定方向、蓝图、核心提升点和路径，对核心流程进行优化、核心系统进行修复从而夯实基础，进而对部分关键预测能力和流程打通，提升关键能力，最后进入到全面分析能力建设、数字化工具持续部署、全价值链信息全面反映和管控支持的持续提升阶段。

顶层规划的价值在于营造数字化转型的变革氛围、学习氛围和思考氛围，对当前企业存在的问题达成根因共识、提升方向共识和变革内容共识，理清实现公司目标的业务架构、支撑业务实现的应用架构、数据架构和技术架构，明确项目目标、任务、周期、策略和路径。

在整个规划过程中，强调用企业架构将战略、业务、技术、流程、系统、数据进行打通串联，统一IT和业务语言。

在数字化落地全过程，强调规划、业务设计、系统试点、系统推广、应用运营全过程中IT服务的全链条贯通，轻设计、重建设、无运营优化的数字化建设一定是事倍功半的。

当前，新一轮技术变革持续演进，加速中国制造业实现数字化转型和智能升级，已成为共识。但数字化转型不能闭门造车，要用开放的心态去学习标杆。头部企业所采用的最先进的技术不一定是最合适，每家企业都因其行业特点、发展阶段和公司规模的不同，对技术的要求也会有所不同，因此对于标杆企业，除了辩证地看待技术和经济投入外，于洪涛认为企业需要重点关注以下几个方面：

华为的数字化转型一直是中国制造业的标杆，“如何学习华为，学习华为数字化转型的哪些经验”成为企业最重要的课题。于洪涛对此，提出了自己的观点，他认为企业最应该学习的并不是巨大的IT投入，而是如下以下5个方面：

企业在数字化转型的过程中除了战略、技术外，人才是也关键的一环。许多企业会通过招聘、内部优选和培养属于自己的数字化人才力量，但企业落地数字化不应该 “单枪匹马”， 也需要善从外部借力，达到事半功倍的成效。

在客户需求、技术迭代、知识更新快速变化的当下，借用外力不再是固定的项目范围、项目周期，而是长期伙伴式的伴随服务，与靠谱且懂行的数字化服务商携手同行，精准地把握行业趋势，助力企业找准数字化的方向，为企业引入最合适的技术方案和服务能力，按需快速响应，推动企业深化数字化转型。