How digital transformation leverages a bright tomorrow at Barco

Advanced digitization is the way to go for companies that want to keep up with rapidly changing markets and customer needs. At Barco, we kicked off our digital transformation a while ago. Are we at cruising speed yet? We asked Philippe Verlinde, Chief Digital and Transformation Officer, and Sales Processes and Tools Manager Annelies Traen.

“On a scale of one to ten, I’d say we score 7”, says Philippe when we ask him to assess Barco’s digital transformation. “We have our foundation in place, but there’s still a lot to do. Increasing user adoption is a challenge.” Annelies, for her part, praises the progress we’re making: “We’re definitely moving in the right direction. Appointing change ambassadors, for example, was a smart step to take.”

The 3 levels – and drivers of digital transformation

Digital transformation is a broad topic. Philippe and Annelies narrow the scope to three levels:

1. Boost internal efficiency

Digital transformation improves the way of working, freeing up time for employees to focus on things that create true long-term value, like innovation, says Philippe: “Look at approval flows, for instance. Instead of waiting for each other’s approval, with digitization, several people are invited to approve a document or a process at the same time. That helps to speed things up.”

As digital transformation drives efficiency, it also helps cut costs, “which, of course, is often a key driver to boost digital transformation,” Philippe admits.

2. Enhance the customer experience

Digitization means you can offer customer self-service capabilities via a user-friendly portal, empowering customers to track orders and create quotes themselves. Or you can capture customer data to get insights in customers’ behavior and needs, leading to personalized customer experiences.

“Improving the quality of products is an important driver for digital transformation,” Annelies adds. Here too, data helps to get insights – as a starting point for improvements.

3. Enable new business models

Digitizing our processes will also change the way we do business. “New business models could help us win in new markets,” says Philippe. He does, however, admit that Barco is still at the beginning of the learning curve in that area.

1. Boost internal efficiency

Digital transformation improves the way of working, freeing up time for employees to focus on things that create true long-term value, like innovation, says Philippe: “Look at approval flows, for instance. Instead of waiting for each other’s approval, with digitization, several people are invited to approve a document or a process at the same time. That helps to speed things up.”

As digital transformation drives efficiency, it also helps cut costs, “which, of course, is often a key driver to boost digital transformation,” Philippe admits.

2. Enhance the customer experience

Digitization means you can offer customer self-service capabilities via a user-friendly portal, empowering customers to track orders and create quotes themselves. Or you can capture customer data to get insights in customers’ behavior and needs, leading to personalized customer experiences.

“Improving the quality of products is an important driver for digital transformation,” Annelies adds. Here too, data helps to get insights – as a starting point for improvements.

3. Enable new business models

Digitizing our processes will also change the way we do business. “New business models could help us win in new markets,” says Philippe. He does, however, admit that Barco is still at the beginning of the learning curve in that area.

Digital transformation at Barco

Barco kickstarted its own digital transformation about six years ago. “It began with product platforms,” Philippe explains. “As customers were asked to register themselves when they started using our solutions, we could structure customer data. Three years ago, we started linking our IT systems to our product software – an essential new step to improve the customer experience.”

Digital transformation is about driving internal efficiency, improving the customer experience, and enabling new business models.

Philippe Verlinde

Chief Digital and Transformation Officer

“The way we implemented Salesforce is a nice example of what digital transformation can do,” Annelies continues. “Barco always develops a minimum viable product and then collects feedback from key users as early in the design or implementation process as possible. That helps us to focus on what users really want and need. So, when we introduced Salesforce, we gathered feedback after a couple of months, enabling us to adapt wherever necessary.”

Security by design

What about the cybersecurity risks that come with digitizing and connecting systems? Philippe: “Cybersecurity isn’t something you think of at the end of a digitization project. We take it into account from the very beginning. We call that ‘security by design’. The more systems you connect, the more assessments are needed from various angles: from testing your individual products to assessing the cloud you’re using. That’s why we perform penetration tests in most of our projects.”

3 trends in digital transformation

Just like Barco, a lot of companies are in the middle of a digital transformation right now. “Digitization is a train in motion you want to be on as a company,” says Annelies.

In the coming months and years, Annelies and Philippe will help Barco to constantly raise the bar in digitization, taking into account these 3 main trends:

Cloud-first

We’re not only connecting products to the cloud, but IT systems as well. That comes with a lot of advantages, but with some concerns too – increasing cybersecurity complexity, for instance.

The growing importance of data

At Barco, we have access to more user data than ever before. That helps us to become a real data-driven company.

AI and machine learning

AI helps us automate processes, for instance. We’re still exploring how we can make maximum use of AI and machine learning in our current landscape, but it’s clear that both will be crucial in moving our business forward.