Demand for digital twin solutions is growing throughout the enterprise landscape. Emerging opportunities to use digital twins for everything from product development to enhanced collaboration are emerging everywhere.
Because of this, between 2023 and 2028, the market for digital twins is expected to grow at a CAGR of 61.3%. Any company looking to leverage more data, make intelligent decisions, and optimize performance can benefit from digital twins.
The question is, how do you choose the right technology for your needs? Here’s your guide to comparing digital twin solutions in 2024.
Step 1: Identify Use Cases for Digital Twin Solutions
The first step in comparing digital twin technology is determining what you want to accomplish. Digital twins aren’t just incredible tools for companies exploring Industry 4.0 and the industrial metaverse anymore.
Enterprise companies are leveraging digital twin technologies to enhance customer service, reduce operational costs, and even build metaverse worlds for hybrid teams. Defining your use cases for digital twin technology will help you to determine not just what kind of technology and features you need but also who should be involved in the purchasing decision.
If you know that you’re using your digital twins to improve hybrid office design, you might include HR experts and managers in your team of stakeholders. If you’re leveraging digital twins to improve customer experiences with things like proactive and predictive maintenance services or metaverse onboarding, you’ll include your customer success team.
Step 2: Explore the Different Types of Digital Twin
Assessing your core use cases for digital twin solutions will help you determine what type of twin you need. There’s no one-size-fits-all option here. Digital twins come in a range of forms and can be deployed in different ways. For instance, HPE offers a digital twin-as-a-service solution to ease enterprise customers into simulation and spatial data services.
Some of the most common types of digital twins used in the enterprise include:
- Component twins: A simulation or representation of a single part of a process or product. For instance, you might use a component twin of a camera system added to your new laptop product to experiment with different design options.
- Asset twins: Asset twins create a dynamic virtual model of an existing asset, allowing you to track its performance and other information. For example, these twins could showcase how companies use virtual reality headsets in meetings.
- System twins: System twins go beyond asset twins by representing the system in which a critical asset functions. As an example, you could examine how your VR headsets work alongside other meeting and collaboration tools.
- Process twins: Process twins can help you gather information about the efficiency of a certain process, like how you onboard customers or deliver predictive support. This gives you a great way to analyze and improve customer service and team productivity.
Step 3: Plan to Deploy Digital Twin Solutions
Once you’ve established your use cases and selected the right types of digital twins, you need to assess your existing environment and determine which changes will need to be made for a deployment. This will ensure you can seek out the right support from your chosen vendor.
First, assess the security of your current landscape. Digital twins rely on access to huge amounts of data and often share that data over the cloud when connected to IoT devices. This means you need a comprehensive strategy for managing access privileges, encryption, and security.
Consider how you’ll deploy your digital twin architecture and accompanying assets. Will you be using Metaverse and a digital twin as a service solution? Will you need a vendor to provide you with access to valuable tools like IoT sensors, routers, and gateways? How will you keep your digital twins connected to your data with things like edge computing servers? Other points to consider include:
- Integrations with tools for workflow orchestration, business processes, and more.
- Analytical solutions to help you monitor and improve digital twins over time.
- Interoperability with leading productivity toolsets.
Step 4: Consider the ROI Offered by Each Provider
Implementing advanced technologies like digital twins can be complex for some business leaders, particularly when they’re dealing with a limited budget. Depending on the scope of your project, you may need to invest in everything from new networking devices to XR solutions, metaverse as a service technology, and enhanced security services.
With this in mind, it’s important to consider the potential ROI offered by each of the digital twin solutions you consider. A good way to do this is to consider the resources and cost of solving the problem you want to address today. For instance, how much does it take to develop and improve a new product when you account for wasted resources and materials?
How much would you potentially save by giving your employees a way to experiment with products in a virtual environment and even proactively maintain those solutions from a distance?
Step 5: Consider the Unique Benefits of Providers
Finally, when assessing digital twin solutions, look at the unique benefits providers can offer. For example, is one of your goals for digital twin implementation to improve sustainability by enhancing hybrid and remote work, reducing waste, and accessing crucial data?
If so, you can look for a vendor that prioritizes sustainability. Choose a company offering access to simple “as a service” deployment services and scalable cloud infrastructure. If you want to ensure your solution is scalable, look for a vendor with a strong partner ecosystem.
Additionally, make sure you consider the level of support your provider can offer. Will the company you work with provide all the software and hardware you need to launch your new initiative? Will they help with configuring the solution and training team members? Can they offer access to 24/7 technical support when you need it?
Choosing the Ideal Digital Twin Solutions
Digital twin solutions are emerging as an increasingly valuable resource for virtually every type of enterprise. Whether you want to enhance product design, deliver proactive customer support, or enter the metaverse, digital twins can help.
Of course, not all solution providers are the same. Assessing your options carefully based on your unique needs, pain points, and goals will help you make the right choice.
