DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION TRANSFORM OR PERISH

Change is continuous. The world has changed and it will continue to change. Leaders need to focus on agility, lean, scalability and rapid growth in order to stay competitive and profitable. Digital transformation is the shift that all organizations must embrace to respond effectively to the pace of change in today’s world. Digital transformation is more than technical capabilities, it is to look at new ways of doing business inclusive of operational processes, business model and customer experience.

Companies are embracing innovative disruptive technologies such as:

• Mobile

• Social media

• Cloud

• IoT

• Artificial intelligence

• Big Data and other

Despite all the hype around this topic, most companies have a long way to go in their transformative journey. Some of the challenges are:

• Ability to adapt and adjust to the speed of business change

• Security

• Regulatory compliance

• Expensive, best of breed systems that do not integrate with each other (Silos)

• Poor data quality/standards (governance – primary source systems, naming convention, etc.)

• Lack of leadership

• Lack of company vision or understanding of the vision

• Missing IT Roadmap

• Poor collaboration

First thing first. Organizations need to crawl before they can walk. In order to successfully start the digital transformation journey, the following should be considered:

• Effective and committed leadership. Digital Transformation requires active engagement at the top of the house. If this is component is missing, please stop reading…. Lack of leadership is a deal breaker

• Create a transformative vision that propels a cultural shift and creates a share need of “urgency” (do or die). “Begin with the end in mind”. You can’t build a house without a blueprint

• Create an IT Roadmap that supports the company strategy and vision

• Use existing assets in different ways. Think outside the box. If you can’t leverage your current assets, consider replacing them with ones that will support the transformation

• Use technology as a process enabler. Business processes should be standardized and streamlined (Lean)

• Define clear roles and responsibilities, empower your human capital

• Adopt an Agile and Lean approach to consistently deliver faster results without compromising quality

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

― Lao Tzu