144  Blockchain

For instance, a company must have a resiliency plan to keep the

supply chain running by having more than one supplier in different

countries for the same product. In the same way, a company must have

multiple vendors to provide them services like cloud. They should also

make sure to have a defined process to test the end-to-end process and

be able to switch to other suppliers when needed in a timely fashion.

• Who are our direct and indirect competitors? It is essential for every

business to have a clear insight of their direct and indirect competi-

tors. Direct competitors are the ones that offer identical or similar

product or services as us. On the other hand, indirect competitors are

the ones that offer services or products that are close substitutes as

our product/services.

• What is our strategy towards blockchain adoption? As one of the dis-

rupting and innovating technologies with a growing footprint across

the industry, it is essential to know about the blockchain strategy, if

any. This also helps in articulating existing gaps in the strategy and

recommend use of blockchain to deliver value addition to the business

and customers.

• What is our data use and storage strategy? As the digitalisation dis-

rupts all the industries and its footprint is continuously growing, it is

essential to know about a company’s strategy about data. The com-

pany also has to comply with global and local data protection laws,

and the problem becomes more complicated as the digitalisation foot-

print continues to grow.

• What is our Cyber strategy? This is in addition to data and storage

strategy. Due to the growth of digitalisation, cyber security has become

one of the key points even on board and C-suite levels. Regulators

have strict laws about cyber security, and especially, financially reg-

ulated companies must have a clear and transparent cyber security

strategy. It is also essential for the businesses to have significant cyber

security capability due to the rise in the global cyber-attacks and data

breaches. The role of CDO and CISO has become more important

recently due to digitalisation.

All the above questions will provide enough knowledge about a business,

the strategy, gaps and pain points to articulate the improvements and shape

up a plan to provide a competitive advantage.

ASSESS THE GAPS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The questionnaire is a vital tool to gather the required primary data from all

areas of the company and understand existing pain points. This provides a

baseline to formulate the recommendations that can prospectively be part of

the strategy of the company. In this section, we will categorise the concerns into

appropriate buckets and provide recommendations to overcome the barriers.