The 5 Guiding Principles of a Successful Digital Transformation
Enterprises incorporating digital transformation initiatives may be several years into what seems like a never-ending process before wondering if they’ve somehow missed a key step or prioritized the wrong changes. It’s common for a digital transformation effort to go awry because it is a complex and multitiered process.
If your digital efforts seem to be fruitless or at least underwhelming in their results, consider whether you’ve applied these key principles for success:
- Throw out your old business model. At the heart of any digital transformation is disruption. You wanted disruption, and that’s why you initiated this process, but it can be difficult to embrace a new digital reality. Your interactions with customers are likely more direct as a result of removing intermediaries and targeting younger customers. You may also need to embrace new thinking when it comes to products, pricing, and service delivery models.
- Focus on KPIs. Digital transformation often veers off course because there’s no key performance indicator (KPI) to serve as an anchor. Once you’ve established the “why” of your efforts, identify the pain points for the customer within that KPI. These will give you action items that can be addressed with technology. If, at any point in the process, you find you are stalling, ask what the KPI is and what steps are being pursued to address customer pain points. If any of these can’t be answered, that’s where you’re off track.
- Focus on the right aspects of data. Data plays a big role in understanding customer preferences and behaviors and in producing a personalized experience for customers. For many enterprises, data never reaches its potential for change because a lot of energy is put into storing the data and putting it into a data lake — but the data is never used to gain insight or impact decision-making. As you become more focused on your KPI, you’ll be more likely to tap into data resources in meaningful ways to move that marker.
- Embrace integration. Too many enterprises operate in a series of silos, separating key areas of business that require more fluid communication and collaboration in the cloud era. Rather than line-of-business managers, begin structuring leadership in new ways to foster ownership across different departments to integrate data, goals, and action items.
- Don’t commit to a single speed of digital transformation. While this article has largely focused on the dangers of a stalled transformation, there are problems with a “big bang” approach as well. Consider using a two-speed process that shoots for quick rewards with an immediately measurable return on investment for short-term action items, while pursuing larger and broader changes at the same time. This helps you make meaningful changes while realizing financial benefits and motivating team members with measurable improvements right away.
If your digital transformation has lost its momentum, or if you’re considering initiating these changes but require guidance or tools to enhance the process, contact us at One Connect. We look forward to discussing your business priorities.