ABSTRACT
This chapter puts a spotlight on three capabilities that we contend are the most important building blocks for operating and competing as a digital business, besides people. The first, enterprise architecture management, relates to how the organization’s technology infrastructure, information / data, and business processes are and should be configured. The second, technology sourcing, relates to how an organization goes about finding, choosing, and procuring the technologies and related services to be added as components of its enterprise architecture. The third, data management and data analytics, relates to an organization’s ability to collect, validate, store, and leverage internal and external data to spur data-driven decision-making. Taken together, the organization’s ability to effectively build and manage these capabilities can drive or constrain its efficiency, differentiation, adaptability, and agility. This effect can be supercharged through the capacity of these particular capabilities to catalyze all other digital transformation and digital business capabilities. Effectively establishing and continuously upgrading the competitiveness of these capabilities requires organization-wide involvement; and is an important part of managers’ roles at all levels (i.e. vertically up and down the hierarchy, and horizontally across functions). Accountants can play critical managerial support and organization-wide leadership roles in these particular capabilities. As a result, they need to understand these capabilities; and to develop competencies to enable them to effectively play required managerial support and organization-wide leadership roles.
