So, What is Digital Transformation?
Digital transform is the integration of digital solutions into all sections of your company to improve how your company operates, and also it should improve your customer interaction.
The Digital transformation is a series of strategies that improve the flow of information through your business allowing better decisions to be made.
The power of a digital transformation comes from its scope and objectives. While larger more advanced businesses tend to undertake a complete transformation, we find that smaller, less technical businesses tend to concentrate on a single technical objective.
What is the Major Problem When Performing a Digital Transformation?
The major problem with a digital transformation has always been that many companies either talk about it without taking any action to undertake the process, or they decide to give up at the first hurdle and go back to the old way of doing things. unfortunately, when you are competing with other companies that are already technically far in advance of you, this may not be an option.
We are going to try to supply a little help in performing the process in the sections below.
When setting out a digital transformation these are the steps you should follow.
1. In What Direction are you Planning to Focus your Business?
This can be an amazingly tough question. If you have been doing the same thing for many years, generations even, is this the direction your business should continue moving in?
You need to back to the drawing board! Take a look at the industry in its present and look to see what direction it is heading. It is necessary to look to the future and make educated guesses on where the industry will be in 5 years, 10 years and even 20 years. It is highly unlikely that what worked 20 years ago will still be working. Take a look at what other businesses in your sector have done. Another area you need to consider is how you are presently interacting with your clients/customers and see in what ways a digital transformation can improve it. Consult with a digital partner and see what suggestions they can offer.
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2. Who Will be in Charge of the Transformation?
For a digital transformation to succeed you need to put the right people in charge of it. While the person in charge should supply the vision, it is necessary to have a strong team of leaders to push through the various changes in each department. Your leaders will need to understand the technology they are implementing, and why they are implementing it. Also, having people who have done digital transformations before can be a big help.
3. ‘Selling’ the Vision
undertaking a digital transformation there are always those who are major influencers. These are the people who can keep things rolling or break down the process. For the transformation to succeed you will need to know when to communicate with them and what to communicate. You will need to deliver clear messages at regular intervals and ensure you communicate with everyone you should.
4. What Capabilities Should You be Implementing?
This is where research or specialist knowledge is needed. Find out what technologies, capabilities, and skillsets are available that would support and improve your digital transformation. Examine your present database and look to see how changes will improve your present services and customer relationships and increase interactions.
5. Team Decision Making During the Transformation
No matter how good the leaders you have, at some point, you will need someone to make final decisions on certain features. There will have to be certain levels of control with someone ultimately calling the shots. This is the only way to deal with holdups. Otherwise, everything can grind to a halt amidst arguments.
6. Keeping the Funds Flowing
A key part of a digital transformation is keeping funding going to these new areas. The transformation can literally die from stagnation which is what will happen without funding when needed. It is best to have a large amount of extra funding ready when undertaking the process. Also, the people in charge should have the ability to know when some of the proposed change is not going to work as visioned and be able to eliminate that part of the process and come up with alternate solutions. This means that those allocated funds can be returned to the transformation budget.
7. What should you do first?
It is a fact that 70% of digital transformation fail in full or in part. Following the above advice will increase your chances of success. Though as mentioned above, losing the momentum can destroy even the best thought out strategies. Lack of funds is one thing which causes the loss of momentum. Another is undertaking too large a change at one time. If you can break up the process into smaller more manageable bites, you will find that the small wins will help to keep the business and the team motivated. If you can manage these changes so the company sees increases in revenue or lower costs, even better. Transformation can be difficult but the aim is to come out the other side better than before.
In Conclusion
A digital transformation is not something you should leap into blindly. You should have your budget allocated and your leaders set up and ready to begin. Outside help can be a very good idea if they have expertise in past transformations or in technical know-how.
Greenfinch Technology Ltd is an expert in the field of custom software development. We have also created BPMs to improve the digital processes of businesses. If you would like a consultation, call us at 01 818 2949 or contact us at info@greenfinch.ie
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