The current wave of digitalization – affecting business processes, supply chains and value chains – is opening up new business opportunities that are, in turn, driving the evolution of new business models that enable continued investment in digital technology and processes. The huge volumes of information (from people, systems and now equipment) from the sensor-enabled, digitalized world are delivering new levels of transparency that allow processes to be continuously monitored and improved. In parallel, digitalization is driving the accelerated pace of equipment innovation and upgrades as well as new digital service offerings. Businesses increasingly need to grasp digital innovation to remain competitive in globalized marketplaces where the smallest companies now compete with the largest, and where global is less distinguishable from local.
The Internet of Things (IoT) enables equipment and technology performance to be remotely monitored, analyzed, improved, predictively maintained, and made more efficient. Virtual environments are bringing new products and processes to market more quickly. And finance providers have increasing transparency in how equipment and technology are being used, allowing them to base tailored financing arrangements on the expected business benefits resulting from the use of that technology. As a result, embedded finance (where finance is an intrinsic part of the sales proposition) has grown in importance as one of the key factors making such pay-for-outcomes business models work.
