Let the dollar signs speak for themselves: Leaders industry-wide are embracing digital transformation as a disruptive force that can’t be ignored. In fact,a recent study by IDCforecasts that spending on digital technologies will reach an estimated $1.3 trillion this year and will nearly double to $2.1 trillion by 2021.
Whether your organization is in the infancy stages of its journey or has reached a point ofdigital maturity, keep in mind that digital transformation is never a one-and-done deal. As you map out your digital strategy, you can avoid the common trap that many businesses fall into by remembering that transformation is a key component of the overall concept.
True digital transformation is not merely about applying technology and then waiting for it to revolutionize systems and sales. It’s a holistic endeavor that requires a detailed road map for how digital tools will be leveraged across various business functions to achieve organizational agility.
Nevertransformed and alwaystransforming, a solid digital transformation plan requires buy-in from each facet of the enterprise to be successfully integrated into your processes, culture and brand. As such, it’s critical to collaborate with your cohorts in every department to innovate ideas, analyze technology gaps and implement cross-functional solutions. If you’re ready to design a true digital strategy and not just a one-dimensional IT project, here are four core areas to incorporate into your digital transformation framework.
Savvy teams assess organizational goals, analyze integration needs and evaluate impact before designing (or changing) their digital road maps. Your digital tools should enhance your brand’s reputation rather than derail it, which is why the following must be included in your overall plan:
Check the boxes. Your digital transformation agenda must consider your overall brand strategy, market research, baseline metrics, performance expectations and projected return on investment. Include specific tactics for implementation, along with the vendors, partners and channels that will support each tactic. Tactical plans should include enough information to map out resource and technology requirements, processes and systems, expected outcomes, operational costs and companywide impact.
Consider the long and short game.Don’t fail to examine how yourdigital goalswill play out in the short-term (one year), mid-term (three to five years) and long-term (10-20 years). If your organization is more digitally mature, focus on strategizing long-term. If you’re just embarking on the digital strategy, the short-term will be more imperative to your early success.
Rally the troops.Communicating your digital transformation approach to the entire organization helps build consensus. The documentation of goals, a benchmarking process, and the celebration of wins and discussion of challenges are indispensable.
Take stock of your technology.
As you build your digital strategy, take a full inventory of your organization’s technical competencies and gaps. Start byevaluating your company’s tech stack, noting the digital tools you use for internal collaboration, email marketing, customer relationship management, business intelligence (BI), etc.
When it comes to digital tools, less is always more. Consider how functions can be digitally streamlined by reducing the number of systems currently in use within your organization. If your team isoverloaded with toolsor is forced to drudge through processes manually, it can slow down your transformation considerably.
Finally, examine (with rigor) not just the customer journey but also the employee journey. Does the latter support the former? Does data flow smoothly between your organization’s teams or departments, or is the data siloed? Inefficiencies within the employee experience will most certainly impact the customer experience, not to mention the negative effect it can have on culture.
