First Bit: Digital Cluster for FMCG Business

Main article: IT outsourcing

2021: Service Launch

"First Bit" March 15, 2021 announced the launch of a digital cluster for FMCG business with consulting and 70 services.

The cluster helps develop a digital transformation strategy from scratch and provides proven IT solutions to companies that already have a strategy. The key value is the high rate of change.

Cluster members are selected in such a way as to completely close the needs of large business in consulting, technology and digital training. It is a single entry point for owners and directors of digital transformation (CDTO), which saves time and other resources in search of industry expertise and IT solutions.

We created a cluster for FMCG companies with three types of requests. First request: we are already implementing our strategy, what can you offer for these specific processes? In this case, most likely, only technology is needed. The second request: we have a strategy, but we are not fully sure what and in what order to do. We need consulting and technology. Third request: we seem to be doing well, but there is an understanding that we need to change - where to start? It is better for such companies to start by diving into digitalization trends and cases that are successful and unsuccessful in order to quickly come to an understanding of what to do and how to get around the rake, said Roman Kalinkin, director of the Center for Corporate Innovation "First Bit"

Consulting in the cluster is provided by Ernst & Young and First Bit specialists. They conduct general business diagnostics, IT audits, determine the level of digital maturity, and find growth points. For someone, it all begins with immersion in the cases of companies with similar tasks (this zero stage is called case-immersion). Others may be ready to organize their own digital laboratories, the result of which will be an ecosystem.

The technological direction for March 2021 is represented by 70 services from 13 developers: ABBYY, PIX Robotics, First Bit, Cleverence, Grotem, Scout - Corporate Solutions, Varwin, AutoFAQ, Novo BI, Virtuo Commerce, Intelligence Retail, VizorLabs, Infobot. " For example, one of Varwin's VR services allows you to conduct marketing research in a virtual environment - faster, more precisely, and 3-4 times cheaper than traditional methods. PIX software robots will take over the routine associated with hiring line employees, processing the primary and consolidating tax reporting. Representatives of Scout - Corporate Solutions will introduce a safe driving system in the corporate fleet: in one year, the level of injuries decreases several times, insurance and repair costs are reduced by 5-10%.

The developers of the iSpring platform are responsible for digital education. According to the Digital IQ in Russia 2020 study, only 25% of Russian companies are confident that their digital education programs increase employee results and engagement. Among international flagship companies of digital transformation, 89% believe so. The cluster will help increase the effectiveness of employee training programs in order to bring Russian FMCG companies closer to the flagship level.

Why do companies participate in a cluster if they already work with customers directly or through partners? Because here is constant networking, it is immediately clear who can be useful to each other and what a complex solution the client needs. Let's say you make a robot for call centers and you don't even suspect that if you combine it with a BI system, then the robot will become many times more interesting for the market. Here it is quickly realized, and now we are already seeing a more competitive product, "explains Dmitry Styvrin, head of Grotem, a company participating in the cluster.