Few engineering and construction companies have captured the full benefit of digital. Five practices can help E&C companies move beyond isolated pilots and unlock digital’s value across their enterprises.

  1. Focus on fixing pain points, not installing IT solutions.
  2. Implement digital use cases that promote collaboration.
  3. Reskill and restructure engineering teams.
  4. Adjust project baselines to capture value.
  5. Connect projects to unlock impact across the enterprise.

Defining Digital Transformation in Engineering and Construction

Digital transformation can mean different things to different stakeholders, so starting with a shared definition can help executives and managers to agree on a transformation’s goals. Broadly, a digital transformation involves two types of change: business-model innovation, whereby companies introduce digitally enabled products and services, and operational improvement, whereby companies apply advanced technologies and ways of working to enhance the development and delivery of projects.

This article focuses on the latter type of change. In effecting such changes, engineering and construction executives must recognize that digital transformation is about more than adopting tech solutions. The success of a transformation will depend greatly on how well a company institutes the new ways of working that technologies enable. To ensure sustained success, companies must also prioritize efforts to define new products and services as well as digitize their operating models.