What is Digital Transformation?
Digital transformation marks a radical rethinking of how an organisation uses technology, people and processes to fundamentally change business performance. The result is an elemental change as to how a business should operate and how they can continue to deliver value to customers. As well as that it can also be described as a shift in how organisations think, and can lead to letting go of traditional well-known business practices and introducing new streamlined, efficient, adaptable and accessible practices. There are a variety of other definitions for Digital Transformation of course. Agile Elephant highlights the ways businesses will need to rearrange current practices, different ways of thinking, leadership, and why there is a need to incite innovation and improve all forms of customer and employee experience.
COVID19 has also disrupted the working environment and presented new challenges for employers. Digital Transformation however has helped overcome these obstacles and bring new processes that will improve on outdated ones leading to more efficiency in businesses. Remote working is also a huge change instigated by the outbreak, but it has the potential with the right investment of technology to help businesses become more agile and provide employees with other flexible options.
Why is Digital Transformation Important?
Undertaking Digital Transformation for a business is necessary to survive and thrive in a constantly changing digital landscape. Businesses are taking this on board and are making it one of their top their priorities, it is no longer a suggestion for the future or one to sit on the back-burner. It is predicted that global spending on the practices for Digital Transformation will be $1.97 Trillion, that is according to the IDC. They also predict that digital transformation investment will steadily build with a compound growth rate of 16.7% between 2017 and 2022.
Further predictions also mean that by the end 2020, digital strategy will and should delegate a capital budget of at least 10% of your business. This indicates the need to develop, and digital transformation as a vital investment. When it comes to digital investment, companies are planning to increase their investments by up to 75% during the period of the next 12-18 months. There is also a huge focus on data visualisation and machine learning.
The vital move for businesses now is speed, as companies all seem to be at different places in the digital transformation process. IT Leaders must work fast to prove that digital transformation will lead to increased efficiency for the whole company.
Digital Transformation Frameworks
The level of Digital Transformation required will vary within each organisation. However there are some recurring themes within current frameworks and case studies. These are frameworks that all businesses should research further as they begin the process of transformation. Factors that are often mentioned include but are not limited to:
- Strategic Objectives
- Operational Excellence
- Operations Architecture
- Business Case Development
- Solution Selection
Successful organisations operate with a clear business direction, using a vision, roadmap and framework that define the way forward. Without these crucial strategic instruments, businesses would focus only on solving today’s problems and fail to create continuous value. But does your organisation have a clear digital strategy? The answer, most likely, is “no.” This has created an untenable situation for many companies, considering that IT is increasingly interwoven into the very fabric of most businesses, markets and societies.
New digital solutions offer an opportunity to improve how organisations compete and create a foundation for outperforming rivals near and far. A white paper from Cognizant introduces a framework that organisations can use to develop a digital vision and build new business models based on digital opportunities. They have provided examples of organisations that have disrupted their industries by rethinking their approach to doing business, and recommended various approaches to jump-starting your organisation’s digital journey.
Leading a Business Transformation
In order for a business to continue to deliver exceptional customer experience and exceed expectations, CIO’s are now working alongside key executives and making new beneficial decisions. These are changes that include re-skilling employees, starting up innovation labs and beginning experimentation’s with new technologies.
When embarking on implementing digital solutions within your business the key question to ask should be; what are the intended business results you want to attain and what experience do you want your customers to have? From here it begins with these outcomes, the business models you are pursuing and basically working backwards from that point. It is imperative to understand your customer journey map and lifecycle.
Source Picture: Campaign Monitor
3 Top tips to help Transform your business:
Have a set list of objectives: Define a clear strategy and plan. Find out what you want your business, employees and customers to experience. Where are the pain points or bottles necks with your business and how can you introduce technology to solve these problems.
Welcome an adaptive design approach: Adaption is a huge part now of the digital transformation process with focused KPIs now outdated. Being adaptive in design will allow for CIOs to make changes quickly. Successful transformations are a result of being adaptive. Business leaders who reported success were those who were likely to look at monthly changes to their overall strategy.
Adopt agile execution. Encourage risk taking, enabling even lower-level employees to make decisions, fail fast and learn.
Key Digital Transformation Roles
While emerging tech and revamped processes are crucial, it is also important that you have the right staff staff in place to lead your business through the transition.
Software engineers, cloud computing specialists and product managers remain key roles for companies seeking to roll out new products and services. DevOps leaders galvanize software development by merging development with operations, enabling companies to continuously iterate software to speed delivery.
Also, in high demand are data scientists and architects as companies want to extract trends and insights from a vast array of data. Digital transformation also lean increasingly on machine learning and artificial intelligence.
IT departments are also in need of a variety of expert roles when executing a digital transformation plan for a business. These roles include UX designers, digital trainers, writers, business analysts and workplace technology managers. For further insight into knowing who your key players are check out: 4 critical roles for digital transformation
What next…
Digital transformation has revolutionised and changed operations in all the key areas of businesses. Traditional business practices will become outdated and will need to be replaced with new efficient practices that will improve ways of thinking and experiences. This kind of transformation is important as businesses that do not adapt to this new transformation could be putting themselves at a disadvantage.
If you would like to find out more information on digital transformation and how it could impact your business or career, please get in touch with one of our digital experts.
