Digital transformation is a competitive technology and business strategy that leverages data gathering to drive business efficiencies, new revenue growth, and new business models. It is a strategy being adopted by companies of all sizes and geographies. It is particularly useful to manufacturing companies that use data to monitor and adjust processes, improve quality, increase service efficiencies, and increase productivity.
One driver of this transformation is the availability of low-cost data storage and processing power on cloud platforms such as Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services. These pay-as-you-go service platforms have eliminated the need for companies to build and manage their own data centers. Most modern corporate management software systems, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP), are now cloud-based, which facilitates integration of additional cloud-based technologies.