7 Tips To Design Winning Digital Transformation Strategies
Digital transformation remains a hot topic in the C-suite. However, transformation efforts are meeting with mixed results. Over 60 percent of companies Lopez Research surveyed strongly agreeing with the statement “Our digital transformation efforts are moving slower than expected.” Successful digital transformation efforts require a company to operate its business effectively while simultaneously navigating people, process and technology changes. The delicate balance of execution and evolution requires a company to lean on its strategic vendors for assistance.
Companies like SAPare at the core of businesses operations for a diverse range of companies such as Bosch, Nestle and Royal Dutch Shell. To learn more about how various industries are approaching digital transformation, I attended SAP‘s SAPPHIRE and ASUG conference . The conference provides ample opportunity to discuss the challenges and opportunities of digital transformation initiatives with various business leaders and SAP executives. There were at least seven key takeaways that every business leader should consider as they build transformation strategies.
1. Cloud computing helps companies embrace simplification. For several years, business leaders have focused their digital transformation efforts on removing operational complexity. SAP‘s prior tagline, “Run Simple”, represented the momentum behind the need to reduce complexity in software and business process. Over the past several years, SAP transitioned from highly customizable software to Software as a Service (SaaS) and embraced working with multiple Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) companies. This shift has provided customers with software that is easier to use and update. In line with SAP‘s concept of “Run Simple”, digital transformation can mean better instead of new and different. In some cases, many of the digital transformation benefits occur when a company simplifies its existing software and services. For example, Komatsu spoke with me about the benefits of streamlining the order process with web and mobile ordering at the conference.
2. Cloud, analytics and new data enable contextual, personalized experiences. Additionally, the cloud has also enabled scale, flexibility and the opportunity to deliver new business models such as mass personalization, data as a service, and equipment as a service. At SAP‘s SAPPHIRE event, the company launched its new tagline “Best Run”, signifying the enterprise shift from simplification of existing tasks to designing operational excellence using new functions such as machine learning, digital twins, and new user interfaces. For example, Adidas highlighted how the company could change its design and delivery process. Adidas CIO, Michael Voegle, spoke of creating a one-to-one, bidirectional digital customer experience that includes full supply chain transparency to buy online and pick up in the store. Instead of a typical 18-month design time frame, Adidas is also using machine learning and a new prototype store that enables its customers to design a personalized product that can be built and shipped within 24 hours. The concept of “Best Run” moves beyond simple to offering new and differentiated experiences to delivering Right-time Experiences.
3. User experience expectations demand new interfaces. Mobility defined the last era of user experience design with touch, app stores and development for smaller screens. Today’s technology enables another realm of experiences that offers conversational and voice interfaces, digital overlays with augmented reality and immersive experiences with virtual reality. Additionally, new input mechanisms such as pens, totems and gestures are changing how individuals interact and consume data. Every company needs to rethink how these new interaction models will change their business. SAP showcased numerous changes in UX such as conversational interfaces with voice and chatbots as well as augmented reality and virtual reality.
