The role of digital technologies for the service transformation of industrial companies

The role of digital technologies in service business transformation is under-investigated. This paper contributes to filling
this gap by addressing how the Internet of things (IoT), cloud computing (CC) and predictive analytics (PA) facilitate
service transformation in industrial companies. Through the Data–Information–Knowledge–Wisdom (DIKW) model, we
discuss how the abovementioned technologies transform low-level entities such as data into information and knowledge
to support the service transformation of manufacturers. We propose a set of digital capabilities, based on the extant
literature and the findings from four case studies. Then, we discuss how these capabilities support the service transformation
trajectories of manufacturers. We find that IoT is foundational to any service transformation, although it is mostly
needed to become an availability provider. PA is essential for moving to the performance provider profile. Besides
providing scalability in all profiles, CC is specifically used to implement an industrialiser strategy, therefore leading to
standardised, repeatable and productised offerings