As clients’ habits have changed over the years, so did the way companies operate. Innovating, changing business models and leveraging new technology has helped companies of all sizes to reposition themselves in the digital economy. Adopting a digital transformation strategy improves efficiency, maximizes revenue growth and reduces operational costs, solving traditional business challenges and creating new opportunities using technology.
Developing an effective digital transformation strategy ensures that there are measurable and impactful efforts towards business goals. But where to start developing the strategy is trickier. In fact, while 92% of companies are pursuing digital transformation, almost half of them feel that their efforts and investments are not paying off because the business lacks a clear and coherent transformation strategy. With that in mind, let’s delve into the key steps and best practices for an effective digital transformation strategy.
Develop a roadmap guided by business outcomes rather than technology
Start by establishing what you want out of your digital transformation plan. This usually entails understanding the existing situation and the challenges to be overcome in order to achieve your goals. Skipping this step means that you would just be implementing technology that people don’t use. Best case scenario is improved operational efficiency. Worst case scenario is frustration, complication, and wasted resources. In any case there is no transformation, just digitized versions of the same processes and services.
Accept new ways of working and delivering value to clients
Technology doesn’t change a business unless people are leveraging it. It’s natural to experience resistance and skepticism to the “new” from your employees, so be prepared to address their push-back. Having a team of project champions that understands the vision behind your organization’s digital transformation and how to communicate the value it creates is critical to getting others onboard.
Learn to balance risks and opportunities
Any major project involves risks that have to be recognized and navigated. These include failing to get buy-in from employees and clients, adopting technology that doesn’t serve your company’s long-term needs, or making the wrong decisions about how the business should transform. Being aware of the ever-evolving risks and threats involved in a digital transformation initiative will make it much easier to mitigate them. Be prepared to advance your cybersecurity and data privacy to ensure that your network is protected from cyberattacks.
Engage IT as a true partner in innovation
Consult with IT about the technologies that would make the most difference for your business and empower employees, then invest time and budget to bring their ideas to life. Too often IT teams are supporting legacy hardware, applications and processes. Take a closer look at your existing infrastructure to see what needs to be updated, replaced or retired completely.
Understand how different areas of your business are performing
A business is not a monolith, and what works some for teams might not work for others. Instead of relying on anecdotal evidence and gut feelings, use analytics and business intelligence to gain valuable insights into the efficiencies of teams and processes across the organization. This is how you can identify the areas that most need to change and focus investments and efforts accordingly.
Look for partners with expertise
Look for technology vendors that understand your business, to accelerate results and drive initiatives forward. Some key points to clarify during your search are the scalability of the technology, how it integrates with your existing systems; if the vendor shares your vision for digital transformation and is able to support your long-term strategy with the right technology and expertise. ABIT Puresoft’s strategic partnerships with companies like Efecte and ServiceNow bring a definitive advantage to our clients, ensuring they have the solutions and expertise to guide them during implementation, development and configuration. Moreover, through our E2E digital services our prospects will meet their needs and benefit from a professional development team who will provide full support for tools deployment, integration, test functionalities and raise capabilities as to make sure all your business tools run properly.
Unlock the potential of digital transformation
One of the misconceptions about digital transformation is that it’s a destination – once we achieve “X” goal, we’ll be done and move to something else. As businesses evolve, digital transformation will continue to be a critical part of business strategy. By transforming the way they operate, businesses can remain competitive, differentiate products and services, and drive efficiency.
