How to Transform to Succeed in the Digital Economy
In today’s increasingly competitive business climate, companies must put digital technologies at the core of their operations. In order to avoid the same fate as companies like Sears or Yellow Cab, businesses must digitize — from their internal processes to their sales channels. The good news is, most business leaders understand this. In fact, findings from AppDirect’s 2019 Digital Economy Report show that digital transformation has become the top priority for executives across industries globally.
Though a majority of companies acknowledge that digital transformation is critical to thrive in the digital economy, which includes operating in the cloud, 90 percent of executives say they face significant challenges in doing so. To help organizations make headway in their digital initiatives, let’s explore the common challenges many face and ways they can tackle them to succeed in their digital transformation journey.
It’s easy to get behind the idea that companies who digitally transform are more likely to succeed. However, internal alignment is never a given. For instance, while 85 percent of executives support digital transformation, about half of them are reluctant to change. CTOs and CIOs are most supportive of their organizations’ transformation efforts while CFOs are less supportive due to the expected potential costs. Generally, though, C-suites understand it’s mission critical for their business to undergo this evolution to survive today’s increasingly competitive market.
Beyond the C-suite, champions of digital transformation are critical, too, as decision-making around huge initiatives like this doesn’t solely fall on C-suites anymore. As roles rapidly change in the digital economy, senior and middle management also play an integral role in influencing the C-Suite’s decisions. Therefore, internal alignment between all involved parties to support digital initiatives is imperative. For companies that have digital champions, executives say nine in 10 support digital transformation efforts in their organizations. For those that don’t, that number falls to about six in 10.
To best overcome this alignment challenge, find ways to have open communication with folks beyond the executive team as they will likely be the best advocates (or, if they’re not involved early on, serve as a bottleneck) to your digital transformation journey.
In the digital transformation process, strong underlying technology is the backbone to success. However, more than half of executives shared that investing in technology, platforms and software that enables seamless commerce is the most challenging. They also cited integrations with third-party applications and services as a pain point.
When determining which tech tools are right for the company, many businesses come across the infamous ‘build or buy’ question. This debate, which has vexed companies for years, centers around whether to use internal resources to create a technology solution, or work with a third-party vendor to acquire it.
